The Hero
by Gumnut
Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his 'bird. Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'. Gordon is far more than he seems.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Hero

Part One

Author: Gumnut

26 - 27 Oct 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his 'bird. Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'. Gordon is far more than he seems.

Word count: 3141

Spoilers & warnings: Violence, WASP!Gordon, Military!Scott, whump.

Timeline: Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'.

Author's note: For corbyinoz because she has written some magnificent Virgil and Gordon fics and is a great inspiration. Thank you for all your wonderful words.

It started with 'The Joker'. I got interested in WASP!Gordon and decided to explore his side of the story. Then PLOT happened. Now I have no idea what is going on.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for putting up with my crazy.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

A glass of ice and amber liquid landed in front of him with a solid thunk on the woodwork. His eldest brother followed it, his tall figure sliding around the table and taking a seat beside him.

Another glass of alcohol sat in his hand.

Scott didn't say anything at first, apparently quite happy to nurse the drink against his chest.

Breath whistled through his teeth. "So, what happened?"

Gordon arched an eyebrow before picking up his glass and sipping the whisky. Oooh, Scott's expensive bottle. Nice.

He took a moment to revel in its warmth before venturing into the bitterness of his report.

"He did well, you know. Put up one hell of a fight. A couple of those guys won't be getting up any time soon."

Blue eyes peered at him over the rim of his glass. "Virgil?"

"Kayo taught him well." A swallow of scorching liquid, smooth as the glass holding it. "There were just too many of them."

-o-o-o-

A ramshackle pile of a building on an abandoned farm with interference peppering the sensors. It was ironic that Virgil had accompanied him for security. AKA big brother hadn't wanted him to go into an unknown situation without backup.

Whether the outcome would have changed in accordance with that decision, they would never know, but it led to Gordon taking lead and Virgil following. Consequently, it was Gordon who was nabbed first entering the second dusty room of the building and Virgil who had to exercise his self-defence skills.

The hands that grabbed the aquanaut were rough and for a moment the whole room went sideways. He struck out automatically, but was anticipated, his arm wrenched around his back, his knees kicked out under him, and a cold barrel shoved into the base of his skull put a very abrupt end to his defences.

"V-!"

The kick to his ribs silenced him, but his aim had been achieved.

The brother entering the room, froze for just a split second as he processed the situation. Shadows leapt from the darkness, intending on taking him down, but that second, and reflexes drilled into Virgil by his sister, gave him the power to respond.

Virgil's massive arm swiped away the hands grabbing at him as he spun out of reach. Another shadow leapt out only to encounter an equally massive fist to its face. Virgil's uniform did its job and protected him from impact, a hard traction boot landing solidly in one man's guts. A padded elbow hit teeth and those huge gloved hands, usually so gentle, made knuckles as solid as steel - Gordon knew that, one slip on his part in one too many spar sessions had ended in bruises Virgil had apologised for weeks afterwards.

But there were too many, up to half a dozen assailants emerging from the shadows not including those holding Gordon.

The cold ring of metal at the base of his skull dug in deeper as he struggled to free himself and stop the inevitable.

No amount of padding could deflect the bar of steel that shone in the dark and impacted on his brother's ribs.

Gordon heard the snap.

Oh god.

Virgil gasped and staggered. His assailants moved in.

But no, the stubborn bastard didn't give up. His fist impacted the side of a head and a man ended up in the dust at Virgil's feet.

But there were too many.

Too many.

"Virgil, no!" They must be getting some pleasure out of this, because there were guns a plenty, but only one deployed. Gordon didn't know if his brother had even seen them. "Virgil!"

That steel bar flickered in the poor light and the second time it impacted on his brother, the dull thud was skull bone.

His big brother dropped without a sound.

Dust hung in the air.

"Well, so much for that." The hot breath on the back of his neck almost overrode the chill of seeing a gun trained on Virgil's bleeding skull. "Now, time is of the essence. I need access to your ship now, or we will finish him permanently."

-o-o-o-

"They got me first. Virg was behind me and had that extra second to react. It was unexpected." It had been well planned. "They...neutralised him."

He took a swig of his drink and it caught part way down, burning a hole in his throat. "You would have been so proud of him." It was whispered.

"I am. Of both of you." A simple statement that said so much.

Gordon rolled his shoulders in an attempt to shake off the echoes of the incident so he could report clearly.

He was only moderately successful.

"They used Virg to get me to do what they wanted." The words stuck in his throat and he forced steel into his spine, straightening in the chair. The image of his brother discarded and bleeding on Two's checker-plate decking, a gun pointed at his head.

The soft crack as a boot impacted on his already damaged ribcage.

Gordon didn't flinch. He was too experienced for that. But it didn't hurt any less.

Another throat full of burning alcohol attempted to wash the chill away. Maybe he was just out of practise.

"We need to find a way to stop that from happening again." His voice was parched and he found himself staring off into the distance.

"Kayo's on it." The tumbler was lifted from his hand. The clink of glass, the glug of pouring liquid and it reappeared full again.

Gordon took it, an eye flick his only thank you.

"I flew her to the warehouse. Virgil remained unconscious for the entire flight." Gordon was almost thankful. "I had hoped you would be able to track us."

It was Scott's turn to sigh. "John was...upset."

That snapped him out of his daze. "What?" His eyes narrowed. "What did Johnny do?"

Scott shifted where he sat. "When he lost Thunderbird Two and both your signals, he and Eos went to some lengths to find you."

Gordon sat up straighter. "What did he do?"

"Between him and Eos, they hacked every telecommunications network in Texas...including the GDF, CIA, FBI, and the World Council."

"Shit. Did they catch him?"

A snort. "Are you kidding me? No. Though Aunt Val has suspicions. Eos got angry at one point and let loose a virus deleting every occurrence of the word 'intelligence' in the GDF network."

Gordon stared at him. "Why?"

"She found something."

"What?" Was Scott being suspenseful for a reason?

"They knew, Gordon."

"Knew what?" For god's sake.

"They knew there would be an attempt on Thunderbird Two."

-o-o-o-

It was cold fury, nasty and acidic. It leeched into his bones and swirled in his brain. As each action taken against Virgil, he lined up his opponents in his head, catalogued and assessed. There was fear, but he had no time for it.

"What do you want?" He was yanked down a corridor by one restrained arm. He had asked that question multiple times already. Again, he received as much a response as he had before.

Nothing.

The leader of the group was dressed in army fatigues, but had no identifying insignia or rank other than a simple red slash of a crisscross on one arm. It had been painted on with a brush.

Gordon stored it for later analysis.

But for the present, he was keeping track of exactly where he and his brother were being taken.

Unlike the building they had been captured in, this one was modern, clean and far from a dark, sinister lair. Endless corridors of beige and linoleum.

He memorised their route from Thunderbird Two taking note of as much as possible.

He had landed the giant cargo plane on a private runway and taxied her into a massive hangar. The impression that this had all been planned ahead became stronger. After all, Two wasn't little. It wasn't as if she could be stashed in some thief's backyard.

Virgil was a mass of bruises, each welt a threat to get Gordon to do what they wanted. His heart ached for his big brother, still unconscious and being dragged alongside Gordon between two men.

Until he wasn't.

"Where are you taking him?"

Again, he received no response other than having both his arms wrenched tighter behind his back. His shoulders creaked.

He didn't give them the satisfaction of groaning.

Dragged down the hallway, he felt the distance grow between him and his brother.

And with that, he just got colder and colder.

By the time they punched an electronic lock and shoved him into room, he was little more than ice.

The man holding him spun him around. Grey eyes meeting his.

Ice met ice.

He didn't say anything, but the intent was clear. We have your brother. Do anything and he dies.

We'll see about that.

The man spun and left, taking his lacky with him.

Gordon was left restrained, in a room with a single bed and not much else, glaring at a locked door.

-o-o-o-

"They knew?" Gordon stared at his brother. "What did they know?"

Scott pulled out his phone, prodded it and handed it over to Gordon.

The aquanaut stared at the words on the screen. It was a report detailing a new terrorist group. The GDF had labelled them 'Null' in accordance with the symbol they assigned themselves.

A red hand-painted cross was splattered across the page. Gordon's lips tightened.

The intelligence reported was sketchy, but the impression was a vendetta against International Rescue, the Hood and the Chaos Crew. A single statement, 'We will end the war', was attached to the document.

"Shit." It came out in a breathless rush.

The document went on to theorise that the founder or founders of the group had suffered at the hands of the Chaos Crew and consequently had a vendetta against both sides of the equation.

"Why didn't they tell us?" Gordon stared at the phone, a number of emotions roiling in his gut.

Out the corner of his eye, Scott sculled the last of his drink and dropped his tumbler onto the table. "Bait." An exhalation. "You were bait."

"Bait?" Gordon stared at his brother. "You're kidding me."

"No. I'm not." Blue eyes were so cold, they hurt. "Eos dug up the command sequence. They didn't know where the group was holed up, so they were waiting for them to strike next. We were the logical target as we are the easiest to find and lure."

"Fuck." It burst out of him in an explosion of hot air and he shot from his seat, storming out onto the balcony. His nerves itched under his skin. The images of his injured brother danced in his head.

The wind leapt off the Island and wrapped itself around him as if in reassurance, but he was not ready to receive it.

Scott walked up calmly and stood beside him.

"Did she know?" There was no need to mention who Gordon was talking about.

"She did."

"And she didn't tell us."

"No, she didn't."

"Does she know, we know?"

"No, but as I said, she has suspicions."

"Does she know what happened to Virgil?"

Scott didn't answer immediately. "Yes."

"Tell me it was worth it."

"The GDF did not succeed in capturing any of them."

Again, Gordon found himself staring at his brother. "None? Not even those I took out?"

"None."

"Fuck." But this time it was a defeated exhale and Gordon closed his eyes, his hand rubbing his face. "What are we going to do?"

Beside him, Scott straightened into the sharp, commanding military man he was. "What we always do." Blue eyes turned to focus on him. "Save people."

And Gordon got the message. That blue gaze locked onto him, his brother's military bearing, straight and strong.

They saved people.

And they would save themselves.

-o-o-o-

It took him an annoying amount of time, but he slipped his bonds. It helped he kept a tiny pocket knife strapped into the inside of his right boot. He would have taken that one as a credit to his military past, but honestly, it was the result of an incident several years ago that saw him snagged underwater and Virgil having to dive in and untangle him. The nagging about being prepared after that had been intolerable. The tiny penknife had been handed to him late one night with worry in those brown eyes.

Kind of ironic that now it would be helping to save that same brother.

They had taken his baldric and rebreather while they were still aboard Thunderbird Two. He would give these guys credit. They were far from stupid. No monologuing, no explanations, just purpose.

He had no idea what that purpose was other than to capture Two and torture his brother as leverage.

Yeah, well, Gordon had a purpose, too.

Get out of this room, get his brother and his 'bird, and get the hell out of here.

Tools at hand...penknife, metal bed and associated mattress. He looked up...light globe. His eyes tracked a conduit leading from the bare bulb across the ceiling and down the wall, disappearing into the doorframe.

Exposed wiring.

He slipped up to the door, a hand touching the smooth and cold metal surface. A moment to listen for movement beyond. These guys were smart, he was pretty sure there would be a guard or two outside his door.

No sound to confirm anything.

Nor was there a lock on this side of the door, the electronic lock was outside for security reasons no doubt. But in any case, there was no way for him to see out the door or what was on the other side.

His lips thinned.

Wasn't going to stop him.

He reached for the plastic conduit beside the door and, shoving his penknife under the sheath, pulled off the plastic channel keeping it snug against the wall.

Perfect.

He let his mouth slip into a lopsided smirk.

It took a while and aching fingertips, but he could feel his big brother over his shoulder congratulating him on his skill. Virgil was going to love this story.

Assuming it had a happy ending.

He ripped the electric cables from their mountings on the wall. It took him some time because he had to do it with minimal sound. At one or two points, he thought he had blown it as a c-clamp clattered and bounced on the concrete floor, but there was no response.

That metal door must be thick.

Some re-purposed plastic conduit to hold the cables and a little extra protection for his hands and penknife and he cut the wires one by one.

The room fell dark.

Gordon stood ready, expecting someone to burst in at the change in lighting, but instead a thin band of light from outside shone under the door.

A shadow moved across that band of light, but the door did not open.

No sound.

Exhale.

He only had one shot at this.

He touched the bared wires to the metal door.

The darkness sparked and the door sighed open just a little as the lock died an electronic death.

A sliver of light landed on his blue uniform.

A pair of dark eyes, surrounded by khaki, met his.

A gun came up.

Gordon moved.

He was out the door and the gun was flying across the corridor in a blur of motion. A mixture of WASP and Kayo took the man down, a final punch to the face sending him into oblivion.

A breath and he dragged his victim into the now dark room. A moment of consideration of the value of anonymity, and he stripped the man of his jacket and pants, trying not to cringe when he shoved them over his uniform. His blue boots would have to stay. Fortunately, or not, the pants were a little long and hid them for the most part.

But move. Time to move.

A quick glance into the corridor and he darted through the door, closing it behind him.

Hurried, but silent steps and he retraced the path that had led him here. Around that corner he had last seen his brother disappear into, ears alert, eyes tracking, body ready.

A man exited a door in front of him and Gordon reacted on instinct. Another body shoved behind another door.

The corridor ended in a T-intersection.

Left or right?

Listen.

"_Gordon Tracy is a simple man."_

The words were distant and slurred, but his heart lifted. Virgil.

Left.

"_I once lost him in the bath."_

Gordon didn't spare a smile for that memory, though it was a good one. He only had eyes for the man standing in front of the door at the end of the corridor.

Fortunately, it was a short corridor.

Okay, Gordo, you gotta play this one right.

He straightened up, checked his shirt to make sure his blue uniform was hidden by khaki.

Walk with purpose and no-one will question your presence.

To the sound of his brother's pained voice, he strode down that corridor as sure in his right to be there as he was sure he was going to go through that door.

The guard looked up in question and Gordon caught his eye. A small smile as his brother spoke about jokes and his darkest days.

The guard returned his smile.

The moment he was within reach, Gordon wiped it off his face.

He caught the unconscious man before he could hit the floor and stashed him to one side.

Virgil's voice slurred on.

"_He has seen the glassiness of death and faced down the reaper himself."_

The reason why he could hear Virgil so clearly became apparent as he realised the door was ajar.

Sloppy.

To his advantage, pushing it ever so slowly open, he peered in.

The room was dark except for a spotlight in the centre. Virgil was strapped to a chair and it appeared that was all that was holding him upright. Blood from his head wound dripped sluggishly down one side of his face. He listed sideways, eyes glazed, his words slurred but inevitable.

Gordon swore silently, his fists clenching. His brother had been drugged. What the hell did these people want?

A single interrogator was in the room, his back to the door.

From sloppy to convenient.

Gordon let himself silently into the room.

"The itching powder on the bath towel.

"The hell let loose on April Fool's Day every damn year.

"They are but a symptom of the man you are facing, and yet so why you are going to regret what you are doing." Virgil's eyes were foggy, but the determination was clear and shot across the room at his tormentor.

Blood dripped from his brother's lip.

And Gordon stepped into the light.

-o-o-o-

End Part One.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Hero

Part Two

Author: Gumnut

27 Oct – 3 Nov 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his 'bird. Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'. Gordon is far more than he seems.

Word count: 3140

Spoilers & warnings: Violence, WASP!Gordon, Military!Scott, whump.

Timeline: Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'.

Author's note: For corbyinoz because she has written some magnificent Virgil and Gordon fics and is a great inspiration. Thank you for all your wonderful words.

It started with 'The Joker'. I got interested in WASP!Gordon and decided to explore his side of the story. Then PLOT happened. Now I have no idea what is going on.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for putting up with my crazy.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

"Count?"

"Four. One at my door, one in the hallway, another at Virgil's, plus the interrogator." He stared at his hand. His gloves had saved his knuckles, but the impact was still there.

They were standing on the residential balcony overlooking the main part of the house. The sky was darkening, the breeze cooling. Below them in the Comms room, Grandma was doing busy work dusting Virgil's piano. She always got fidgety when members of her family were ill or injured and today definitely qualified. The whole week qualified.

Behind him, on the far side of the building, Virgil was curled up in bed in his room. Today, they had finally got him home. Three days in hospital wrestling with the cocktail of drugs and injuries those bastards had inflicted on his brother.

Virgil wasn't military. Never would be. It wasn't lack of skill or capability. It just wasn't Virgil. At the edge of things there was a factor that made a soldier a soldier. Scott had it, Gordon had it, Virgil did not.

It was not a deficit on his big brother's part. It was just not his place in the world. What he contributed was different to what Gordon contributed, but it had no less value.

But it meant his brother should not be on the front line, should not face what he had had to face. Virgil was strong, that was not the issue.

It was just wrong.

And it put bile in Gordon's throat.

"I think we should call him in."

Scott shifted beside him, but neither man looked at each other. "Already have." The fading sun sparkled light off the tumbler in his hand as he drank a mouthful.

"Good." A pause. "Tin?"

"Pissed, but she'll live."

"They are better together, no matter what she says."

Scott snorted. "They are one hell of a pair."

A grim smile. "Two is always better than one."

-o-o-o-

Gordon crouched in front of his brother. "Hey, Virg, that was some speech. Who knew you could be so eloquent under pressure?"

Brown eyes struggled to focus on him. Virgil remained canted to one side, his whole posture limp. "He's strong. He's going to kick your ass."

Shit. Virgil was so far gone he didn't even recognise his own brother. Gordon bit his lip. Time. He didn't have time for this.

"Hey, hey, Virgil. I'm Gordon, remember? The joker guy you said was going to save your ass." He traced the ropes holding his brother. Virgil's baldric was missing. A quick glance around the room located it in the shadows. Excellent. Virg always had tools at hand. He took a second to grab the green length of silicone leather and strung it over the khaki hanging off his torso. An attempt at his brother's comms gave as much result as he expected it to. Nothing.

The penknife blade made short work of zip-ties and rope and Virgil sagged into his arms, mumbling. His brother was heavy. This was going to be a problem. "C'mon, we gotta get you outta here. Won't be long before they discover I escaped." And they were in a dead-end corridor, not exactly a strong defensive position.

"Don't underestimate my brother. He's funny, but he's so much more."

Gordon ran a hand through his brother's hair as he lay on his shoulder, taking just a split second to hold him tight.

"In any other circumstances, I'd be lapping this up, but Virgil, we need to get you onto your feet. I'm strong, but not strong enough for your heavy lifting. C'mon, up you get." Gordon pushed up with his thighs, his brother's weight on his upper body. Virg, please.

The interrogator on the floor squirmed, wailing something against the wad of the man's uniform Gordon had shoved in his mouth.

Virgil responded, swaying where he stood. "Gordon is going to come. You're going to regret it."

"Yes, yes, help me here, Virgil. I did come. I'm here. It is time to go."

Virgil continued to mutter his faith in his brother to the world at large as Gordon manhandled him into a position that could enable them to move efficiently as possible.

"Okay, arm over my shoulder, we gotta move!" Virgil's weight fell on him and Gordon grunted. The muttering continued. "What the hell did they give you?! Some kind of truth serum?"

They stumbled from the room. The guard outside was still out cold. Gordon took the opportunity to grab his firearm before hurrying himself and his delirious brother up the hallway.

Sneaking a look around the corner, he found the coast clear and they made the length of it until they were back to the main corridor. Virgil's head had fallen limp onto Gordon's shoulder. Blood was staining the khaki brown as Virgil muttered into the material.

A group of men were striding down the corridor.

Shit.

Gordon dragged himself and Virgil back a little down the hallway, avoiding the door he had already stashed one knocked out guy, he tried another, only to find it locked.

Shit.

Shit.

The voices grew closer. "Um, you're going to have to be quiet for a bit, we have to sneak past some bad guys."

Virgil started in his grip, his head wobbling on his neck. "Bad guys want to hurt Gordon. Can't let them hurt Gordon. Tried to kick their asses, but I'm not like Gordon." His head lolled. "Or Scott. Couldn't do it." His voice faded a moment, only to return much louder and panicked. "Too many. Now they want to hurt Gordon. Can't let them hurt him. No, no, can't..."

"Shit, Virgil, shhh!" Gordon dragged him further down the hallway and around the corner they had already escaped from. "Just be quiet for a minute, please."

Virgil froze and Gordon held his breath, but it was only a moment and Virgil's panic returned. He appeared to think Gordon was going to be attacked.

Which wasn't far from the truth, because the men in the corridor had stopped and responded to the noise Virgil was making.

Gordon slammed himself against the wall, his hand clamping over Virgil's mouth.

It was a mistake.

His brother, forced beyond his limits, took it as a threat and fought back. Gordon lost his grip on Virgil and was flung away just as three men tore around the corner and spotted the both of them.

Virgil collapsed, the dull thunk of his head on the linoleum floor registered briefly before Gordon found himself in a fight for his life.

-o-o-o-

"There were four of them." A swallow. "Virgil received his second head injury because I had to let him go."

"He'll be fine, Gordon. You did what you had to do." A hand landed on his shoulder.

What he had had to do was fight for himself and his brother.

He got off a shot before the gun was knocked from his hand. After that it was a blur of fists and impacts. He had been so lucky. Only one of the men was armed. He went down with a bullet in his side. Gordon had been aiming for his weapon, but he moved at the last second. Regardless, he didn't regret it. He hadn't had time anyway as the other three had piled onto him.

One had half a brain and went for Virgil, face down against the wall. Gordon had been hard put to divert him...into the wall. The snap of bone had been nasty.

But that had left two and he could handle two.

"Remind me to thank Tin for the two-opponent drill she made us run through so many times. It paid off, big."

The hand was still on his shoulder.

He didn't object.

-o-o-o-

"Virgil?! You with me? C'mon, bro, please." If there was desperate pleading in his voice, so be it. His ribs hurt from a blow that had made it through his defences and a shin wouldn't be forgiving him anytime soon.

And if Virgil didn't wake up, he would have to throw him over his shoulders and stagger out of this complex best he could. C'mon, Virg.

As if he had heard him the second time, his brother answered, his voice rough. "Gordon?"

Oh, thank god. "Yes. You with me?"

"Knew you would come. Kick their ass."

"Yeah, you mentioned that." He sighed. Whatever the hell they had given his brother, it was strong. He grabbed an arm and pulled as gently as possible. "Can you stand?"

Virgil looked up, but Gordon got the distinct impression he couldn't see, his eyes vague and unfocussed. Hell.

"Don't mess with my brother, he'll kick your ass." And he was back to vaunting Gordon's defence skills. Gordon had no idea Virgil had such faith in him. It was something he would have to analyse at a later time.

"I'll take that as a maybe." Another tug on that arm and Virgil complied, awkwardly pushing himself to his feet. The moment he straightened, his brother's pallor shifted from grey to green to almost white. He wavered and would have fallen if Gordon hadn't caught him.

"Shit!" It was rasped out and Virgil's face clenched shut.

Gordon straightened throwing his brother's arm over his shoulder. "Sorry, bro, but we gotta move now. You can throw up on my shoes later." For a moment he thought Virgil was going to puke right then and there, but he must have found some inner strength, because as Gordon guided him down the hall, he kept it together enough to stumble alongside.

Gordon fingered the gun in his hand.

-o-o-o-

It was Scott who broke the moment. His hand dropping from Gordon's shoulder, he turned back to the two chairs, fingered the decanter and poured two more shots of the whisky.

"Another four. That brings the count to eight."

Gordon's glass found his hand and he sipped the drink absently. "Yeah, it does."

"The total was fifteen." And Tin appeared at the edge of the balcony, her cat-like stride slinking her through the glass doors. Dressed in shorts and a loose top, she eyed the alcohol in their hands, but did not comment.

Scott stared at her a moment before turning to Gordon with a frown on his face. "Fifteen?"

Gordon shrugged. "Well, I had to get Two back, didn't I? It's not like I could leave her there. Virgil would never forgive me."

Scott's head tipped slightly to one side. "You know that's not true."

He hid behind his tumbler, revelling in the liquid fire it poured down his throat. "I couldn't leave her there." Security and technology be damned. She was his brother's 'bird.

They couldn't have her.

-o-o-o-

Virgil was flagging by the time they made it back to the hangar, Gordon virtually carrying his big brother. Words were muttered about Gordon kicking butt, but they were barely coherent. It was the clearer and desperate 'make it stop' that wrenched Gordon's heart out.

"Not much longer, Virgil, I promise." There was a breathlessness to his voice. Virgil was damned heavy.

He hauled his brother down the last corridor and prayed he didn't run into anyone else.

A set of doors and he held Virgil with one arm and peered through. It was the hangar, Two sitting there in all her glory. Nearly there, Virgil, nearly there. There was no one in sight, so he slipped himself and his brother through those doors and towards the open module of Thunderbird Two.

An indrawn breath and Virgil attempted to lift his head, eyes searching as if he sensed his girl.

Gordon shuffled his brother over to the side of his 'bird. The moment they reached the green hull, Virgil reached out and his hand found the cahelium alloy.

An exhale and his brother rested his forehead on the cold metal.

Voices echoed from inside the module. Eyes darting, Gordon took a chance and lowered Virgil to the floor. "Sit here. I'll be back in a moment."

His brother curled up beside his 'bird, his cheek against her green skin, eyes closed and frowning.

A moment. He only needed a moment. Please be safe.

A prayer to the powers that be and Gordon slipped around and through the open module door.

Another three men. All in khaki, all with red criss-cross patches on their arms, pulling apart the mechanics in one of the pod bays.

Virgil would be so pissed. He kept that machinery well-ordered and functioning flawlessly. These assholes had probably screwed up the robotic alignment and it would take half a day to get it back in sync.

Yes, pissed, Virg was going to be so pissed.

He crept along the wall silently, taking advantage of their absorption in their investigation to sneak as close as he could. The moment he was spotted, he charged.

One of them yelled and Gordon swore. That one was the first to go down, the thud of his head hitting cahelium was almost enough to make the aquanaut wince.

Almost.

The other two, less aware and slower in reaction, went down even harder.

One glance at exactly what they had done to the pod robotics had him muttering profanities as he dragged the three bodies hurriedly out the door, flinging them onto the hangar floor out of range of where he fully intended to taxi the giant cargo plane.

Returning to Virgil, he found his brother reaching out blindly calling his name.

Aw, hell.

"It's okay. I'm here." He grabbed Virgil's wavering hands. "We're okay, but we need to be fast." A heave and his brother's arm was around his shoulders again and he dragged him into Two's module.

Virgil's collapsed against him, his legs folding as if finally aboard his girl, he had nothing left.

Shit.

Gordon staggered and nearly fell. With some effort he was able to lug Virgil over to the wall and lay him gently down, rolling him into the recovery position. Hell, Virg, don't do this. A very quick vitals assessment, and his brother appeared stable, but considering the unknown substance in his system, Gordon wasn't game to trust anything.

But first things first.

He hurried to the module remote and pulled up a ship's status screen. A quick scan for life signs and he found two in the cockpit.

Damn.

Of course, this was when he wished Virgil was both awake and in his right mind, because the engineer could make his lady dance and do whatever he wanted her to do.

But he wasn't. Work with what you have. A Scott Tracy motto which meant it was likely a Jeff Tracy motto, too.

And what he did have was access to the security system.

Punching in his co-pilot's code, he brought up the anaesthetic gas defence network and hit the button to flood the cockpit. An extra flick of a finger secured all the exits to that space.

A count to ten and he closed the module door. Another flick and TB2 lowered her body and drew the module up to dock.

He had to move fast.

Raiding the module's supplies, he dug up a gas mask and with a quick check on Virgil made his way to the cockpit. Another code to unlock the door and, ready to take on whatever he encountered, he leapt through.

He needn't have worried. A man and a woman were out cold on the deck plates.

Gordon hurried over to the pilot's seat and activated the security system that electrified the skin of the 'bird.

Now no-one could get in, he could breathe a moment.

Pumps began cycling out the gas and clearing the air. Gordon took that moment to dig up some zip-ties and secure the couple. He dragged them to a supply closet, stripped the tiny room of anything that could aid them - Virgil was likely to be pissed at that, too, he kept his supplies in neurotic order and now they were scattered all over the corridor - and stashed them in there for safe keeping.

Then he ran to get his brother.

He didn't want Virgil out of his sight. In his condition, he needed monitoring.

His brother was exactly where he left him. Blood still sluggishly dripped from his head wound and Gordon was harshly reminded of the steel bar responsible.

With Virgil out cold, Gordon hauled his brother up as carefully as possible, walked him the short distance to his own cockpit and gently placed him in his pilot's seat. Harness secured, Gordon took his own co-pilot seat and started a very hurried pre-flight.

Someone outside started yelling, but Gordon shut it out as he initialised Two's engines and her familiar whine began to build.

The hangar door remained an obstacle, but his brother's 'bird had a laser for a reason.

"Two." It was slurred and rough, but it was Virgil.

A glance in his brother's direction found him still slouched in his seat, head lolling, eyes still closed.

"Yeah, Virg, we're on your 'bird. Hang tight because I'm afraid I might have to scratch her paintwork."

"You wouldn't do that. We only joke about it." Slurred, but clearer.

"Well, I'm not in a joking mood right now." And he fired the laser, Two's targeting computer slicing a Thunderbird-sized hole in the steel door.

"What are you doing?" Virgil's eyes were open, but still glazed.

"Cutting our way out of here."

"Where?"

"They stole your 'bird, Virg. Remember?" The moment he said it, he knew it was a mistake. Virgil's response was to start an anxious muttering about Gordon getting hurt, he had to protect Gordon.

"It's okay, we're escaping. Another five seconds." Literally, the laser was nearly finished. "Hang in there, Virgil."

The muttering got louder. A mix of faith in Gordon and terror for his safety. Virgil's voice was slurred and random and he needed a hospital as soon as humanly possible.

Two roared as Gordon engaged VTOL, the whole ship lifting off the hangar floor. Ship's sensors tracked their intended flight path, and with no little amount of vengeance, Gordon engaged her rear thrusters, likely torching whatever was behind the Thunderbird, and pushed her through the hangar doors with a godawful crash.

-o-o-o-

"Virgil lost consciousness again not long after that. I got in contact with John and we flew to Wellington. You know the rest." Those moments with Virgil limp beside him had lasted forever.

The hand on his shoulder returned. "You did good, Gordon."

"Yes, he did."

The familiar voice was calm and quiet and ever so controlled, but it made all three of them start in surprise.

"Mister Gordon, it is good to know you've kept up your training."

Tin was glaring and Scott smirking. Gordon found himself lining up with his big brother, his lips curling into a grin.

"Hey, Kyrano."

-o-o-o-

End Part Two


	3. Chapter 3

Title: The Hero

Sequel/companion piece to The Joker

Part Three

Author: Gumnut

3 - 12 Nov 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his 'bird. Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'. Gordon is far more than he seems.

Word count: 3016

Spoilers & warnings: Violence, WASP!Gordon, Military!Scott, whump, language.

Timeline: Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'.

Author's note: For corbyinoz because she has written some magnificent Virgil and Gordon fics and is a great inspiration. Thank you for all your wonderful words.

Oh god, this one's a hard one. Just ask vegetacide I've been whining in her ear for the last hour or so. I am so not sure about this. I really hope I can pull this off, but I'm chewing my fingernails into stubs. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

It started with 'The Joker'. I got interested in WASP!Gordon and decided to explore his side of the story. Then PLOT happened. Now I have no idea what is going on.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for putting up with my crazy.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Gordon held position, his eyes tracking his opponent.

"Left foot, Mister Gordon."

Green eyes punctuated that statement, targeting the offending limb. Gordon shifted it back into form.

Kyrano circled and Gordon felt sweat break out on his forehead. Every sense was alert. Kyrano had that effect on him.

The security specialist was small in stature but deadly. His slowly greying hair hid his youth and his fitness. If the swimmer wanted to admit it to himself, the Malay scared him.

But his need outweighed his fear. He had to do this and Kyrano was the most capable of teaching him how.

Like a snake the man struck. Gordon fumbled to defend and for a moment he thought he had succeeded, but a sudden lack of limbs in contact with the floor saw him falling flat on his ass.

"Focus on your left foot and you forget your right."

Gordon sagged into the mat.

"You wish to become WASP, yet you allow such vulnerability."

"Doing my best, K."

"Do better."

He looked up to find those same green eyes staring at him beyond an offered hand. He reached up and took it.

And found himself airborne.

Ah, shit.

It was the only thought he could manage before the mat was again attempting to slap him into next week.

But this time he rebounded, using his centre of gravity to pivot and bring his flailing feet around in an arc in an attempt to take his teacher's feet out from under him.

Of course, he failed, the Malay simply stepping back, but the glint of approval in those green eyes made it worth it.

Gordon followed through on the arc and used his momentum to spin himself to his feet.

He automatically shifted into form, body ready for another attack.

Kyrano eyed him. "You have some promise."

On the sidelines, Virgil grinned at him.

Tin was no where near as impressed, but the subtle curve of her lips said it all.

"Perhaps you won't die in your first fight." Gordon grinned at Kyrano. "You'll only be maimed."

The grin became a glare. "Is that a bet, K?"

"Currently, it is a certainty."

Gordon rolled his eyes. "Then teach me to kick your butt and I'll prove you wrong."

The small smile on Kyrano's face was satisfying.

-o-o-o-

Gordon spun Thunderbird Two midair, coming to an abrupt landing that shook her frame and would have had her pilot swearing at him if he had been conscious.

The aquanaut shoved off his harness. "John, get the medics in here."

His brother's efficient "FAB." was lost to Gordon throwing himself out of his co-pilot's seat and hurrying to Virgil's side. A quick vitals check disturbed the pilot and he muttered something incomprehensible.

"Hey, Virg. Hold on, bro, we're getting you some help."

"Gordon..."

He had never heard his name uttered with such faith and yet such vulnerability.

His chest tightened.

But he had no time for emotional response.

Dashing across the cockpit, he deployed a hover stretcher and dragged it over to the pilot's chair.

Virgil sagged in his seat, muttering. Gordon gently nudged him upright and his brother moaned.

This was going to hurt.

"C'mon, Virg, let's get you horizontal."

"Need to protect..." And the sentence became incomprehensible.

Gordon levered his brother out of the pilot's seat. Virgil flailed, his pain obvious, his coherency lost.

A clunk and the lower hatch deployed, John actioning Gordon's request. Moments and hands were helping him lower Virgil onto the hover stretcher.

"Gordon! Gordon, no!"

Shit!

"Virgil! Virgil, I'm here! You're safe. We're both safe." He desperately attempted to get his brother to focus on him, but whatever they had given him denied the man relief and his only understanding appeared to be the fact he was surrounded by strangers.

Virgil exploded.

The little energy the exhausted man had left, he threw into his muscles and attempted to leap off the gurney. Even weakened, Virgil was a big man and two of the medical personnel were thrown across the cockpit.

Gordon grabbed a flailing arm and bent it behind Virgil's back, desperate to restrain him. "Virgil! You're safe!"

"Gordon! Have to pr'tect G'don!" It was a bellowed slur and Virgil tipped sideways, barely catching himself. His other arm shot out uncoordinated and Gordon grabbed it, twisting his brother on the stretcher as the aquanaut climbed on top of him and held him down.

A medic appeared with a hypodermic.

"God, no! No sedative! He's been drugged enough already."

Virgil was wailing Gordon's name over and over again, struggling to get free, but his body was giving out on him. Blood smeared on the mattress cover.

"Get us moving. Get some restraints." Gasped out as Virgil wrenched his arm. "I'll hold him."

And International Rescue entered the military hospital, one member holding the other while he cried out his brother's name over and over again.

-o-o-o-

Gordon eyed his former mentor. The man looked well; silver hair cut short except for the short braid at the nape of his neck. Simply dressed as always, black and silver embroidered tunic, loose black pants, both giving him the freedom of movement he used to attack at will. "Long time, no see, K."

"Not long enough for that moniker to be any more acceptable."

The aquanaut grinned. "You love it, just won't admit it."

Those green eyes, so similar to his daughter's, flicked to Scott. "How is Mister Virgil?"

Beside Gordon, Scott's stance shifted to one of weariness. "Recovering slowly. You have my briefing on the details."

Kyrano straightened. "Yes, I do. Though it appears to be lacking some information."

Scott's stance shifted again and Gordon was reminded that Kyrano's verbal sparring skills matched his physical skillset. "You have what is necessary."

"But perhaps not everything that is needed."

Scott tensed and Gordon frowned. "What more is there to tell?"

"What did you learn from Virgil?"

Gordon couldn't help himself, he stiffened. "Nothing relevant." But he knew it was a lost cause. Kyrano knew him too well.

"You have what is necessary." The Commander of International Rescue made sure it was final. Scott straightened up beside him, his height, as always, to his advantage.

Kyrano eyed him a moment. "Very well."

The tension in the air spiked a moment and Gordon found his feet automatically shifting into form.

Shit.

Kyrano smiled at him, green eyes sparkling. The man knew how to play a room. "Relax, Mister Gordon. You are among friends."

"That remains to be seen." And Tin spun on her heel and stalked out.

Scott sighed. "C'mon, Kyrano. I don't know how you got onto the Island and I'm pretty sure you're not going to tell me, but let's get you set up in your old rooms."

Gordon's lips thinned. No doubt Tin was off scouring the security network looking for the hole her father had used.

"Thank you, Mister Tracy."

As Kyrano turned towards the door, Gordon shuddered.

Mister Scott was no more and it hurt.

-o-o-o-

Gordon had no idea what time of day it was. His body ached and the remainder of the day had become a blur. Skipping across the Pacific was going both backward and forward in time and the sun had risen in the west.

Now everything consisted of the four walls holding his brother's whimpers in the room.

They couldn't sedate him and Virgil was caught in some kind of paranoid nightmare continually calling out to Gordon, terrified his brother was being hurt. Gordon had tried repeatedly to make himself known. There were moments where recognition set in and Virgil found the briefest of relief, but then his eyes would fog, memories reset and he would lose it again.

It was exhausting.

They had been forced to use strong restraints both to protect the staff and to protect Virgil from hurting himself.

It took the Commander of International Rescue a good twenty minutes to make it to the scene. John had reported Scott caught up with a mid-air collision over the Atlantic while Gordon had been hurtling across the Pacific.

The roar of One blanketed the base as she tore in to land, presumably beside Two. The blue-suited figure who strode into the room while the doctors were attempting to examine Virgil, flung out sharp and clipped questions demanding immediate answer, his eldest brother shielded by the military man who protected them all.

Virgil didn't recognise Scott any more than he did Gordon.

Gordon watched as his big brother tried everything to calm the distraught man. The gentlest of touches, his fingers in Virgil's hair, soft words.

Virgil only cried out more, tears in his eyes.

"Gordon, h's going t' hurt Gordon. Can't…can't…"

Scott's face turned to stone.

More sharp questions to the doctors revealed nothing. They had no idea what the hell was going on. Timelines told them that if Virgil had been dosed with anything at the time suggested, it should be wearing off now.

It wasn't.

It was getting worse.

Three hours in, Virgil finally fell silent and slipped into unconsciousness.

His vitals took a dive.

-o-o-o-

When their father went missing, they lost more than just Jeff Tracy.

Kyrano took his loss as a personal affront and between one day and the next, upped and vanished.

The brothers still reeling in loss had no idea what to think.

Kayo was furious.

Gordon remembered his sister shifting from sorrow to anger when they discovered her father missing. He had left a note, detailing what he considered a personal failure, adding an equally personal vendetta to his reasons for leaving.

He neglected to even say goodbye.

It was like losing a third parent.

For all of them.

For Gordon it was also losing a mentor. The security specialist had been his guide in so much during those years. In training for WASP, his tenure, the accident that tore him from it and the long recovery that followed…Kyrano had been his spiritual lead. His brothers kept him afloat, but Kyrano had been his rudder in a time of turbulence.

Losing their father caused more pain than all of it and Kyrano left them all high and dry.

He had to respect the man, he had the right to mourn in his own way, but it hit Gordon hard.

But not as much as Kayo. She had never forgiven him for that moment. When he did eventually return, it was obviously with reluctance and on his own terms.

The one-sided screaming match between father and daughter had been heard across the Island. Gordon had the honour of seeing her flee the scene in tears.

He couldn't remember the last time Tin had cried over anything.

She had barely tolerated the man ever since.

It left Gordon wondering if there was more to the equation that he wasn't privy to. Virgil had attempted to follow up with Kayo, but she rejected everyone's enquiries and eventually they all gave up, resorting to watching from the arms-length she kept them all at.

But each time Kyrano arrived back on the Island, always on his own terms and straight through her security, her anger returned.

Kyrano apparently ignored it, but Gordon was willing to bet his considerable fortune that it was all a façade.

Because Kyrano had always loved his daughter beyond reason and it just didn't fly that her scorn could not affect the man.

"You hacked Four's launch bay?!" Gordon stared at him. "What the hell, K? You've disabled her elevator! What if we're called out?" Goddamnit.

"What if I wasn't a friendly?"

"You could have just reported the vulnerability."

"Demonstration is always the most efficient form of communication."

Brains came running into the room, summoned by Scott. With Virgil out of action, the engineer was their primary fix-it man. The moment he caught sight of Kyrano, he took a step back. Brains had never been comfortable around Kyrano. Kayo sometimes gave the engineer the heebee jeebies. Her father multiplied that factor several times over and it put Brains in uncomfortable territory.

Even more when the specialist found holes in his creations.

Scott's frown said it all. "Brains, we need repairs on Four's chute and a security hole plugged. Kayo will give you details."

The woman was back to her stone-faced glare, targeting her father from across the lounge.

"Y-Yes, Sc-Scott. I'll get r-right on that." He darted across the room, Max buzzing along behind him, camera trained on Kyrano in curiosity. Kayo pushed off from the lounge and with a final glare, followed the engineer out of the room.

Scott rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "I really wish you'd stop doing that, Kyrano. A notification would be enough."

Kyrano shrugged. "I do what I think is best."

"K, you mess with my 'bird again, you and I are going to have words."

"I'll remember to bring my dictionary, Mister Gordon."

Scott sighed again. "Kyrano, I need your assessment of our security."

Green eyes flicked in the Commander's direction. "I stand before you, do I not?"

"K, you set up security here. Foiling your own work hardly constitutes an assessment." Besides Gordon had gone over security with both Kayo and Scott and there had been no sign of a vulnerability in Four's launch bay.

His mentor's lips thinned and he turned to look out towards the balcony and the ocean beyond, his whole body a picture of ease, one hand holding the wrist of the other in front of him.

A sudden hiss followed by a roar and something swooped in low over the ocean, leapt up the cliff in front of the villa and came to an abrupt halt, hovering above the pool.

Gordon stared at the frozen projectile. VTOL flickered orange and angry.

Not a single alarm was raised. There was no call from John or Eos.

"My assessment is that you are very vulnerable."

Scott was a vibrating mass beside Gordon. "You said you fixed security after the Hood invaded our home."

Gordon glared at the man. "And we don't usually have to worry about Thunderducks being thrown at us, K." The little arrow of an aqua-vehicle had gone missing with Kyrano and it was a given the man had taken it with him. They hadn't seen it and it hadn't been mentioned the few times Kyrano had been called back to the Island, but Brains had not been concerned. The craft was very low tech on the Thunderbird scale and besides, they had gifted it to the man.

Green eyes fastened on him. "How about Thunderbirds, Mister Gordon? Did you not lose one just recently?"

Gordon stiffened. "We got her back."

"But what if you hadn't?" The Thunderduck nudged a little closer to the open balcony doors.

"Your demonstration has communicated what it needs to, Kyrano." Scott's voice was controlled within an inch of its existence.

Kyrano eyed the Commander a moment and tilted his head a little. "Very well."

The Thunderduck lowered quietly into the pool and settled there.

Gordon groaned. Now he would have to clean the damn pool.

"Your biggest vulnerability is yourselves."

"And how exactly do we fix that?" Scott's teeth were gritted, Gordon could almost hear them grinding.

Those green eyes just smiled.

-o-o-o-

As they watched their brother slipping away, Scott threw more questions at the doctors. The medical staff did what they could, but Virgil refused to respond to anything they did.

The drug should be flushing out of his system, but instead it was almost as if someone was upping the dose.

But there was nothing. The hospital had scanned his brother, there were no foreign objects in him or on him or…

Gordon's eyes widened as his stared at his prone brother. "Shit." It came out of him in a rush. A blink and he was up and moving.

"Gordon?!" Scott stood up abruptly.

He didn't bother to answer his brother, his beeline for Two more important than anything. A fumble through the medical equipment locker and he dragged their IR medical scanner into the hospital.

Scott asked him questions with his eyes, but helped him set up the equipment beside Virgil.

Five minutes later, with the superior technology of International Rescue, they discovered why Virgil was deteriorating.

"What the hell is that?" The question burst from Gordon at the sight of the electronically camouflaged, pill shaped object lodged in Virgil's oesophagus. A swipe of his hand and an enlarged hologram of the object appeared above his prone brother. The hologram flickered, plagued with interference as the object attempted to diffuse the signal.

A word to John, a tie into the scanner and the image cleared.

"Brains? What am I looking at?" The signal was thrown at Tracy Island.

The analysis came back ten minutes later, Brains' words stabbing.

It was tiny, but it was a fully engineered death trap. Partly it was drug delivery. The drug likely immobilised the victim, and initially made him subject to suggestion, a simple torture device modulating the dose over a longer term than a hypodermic was capable.

But there was more.

A molecular scan of the object revealed it contained a manufactured substance that when it eventually came in contact with the hydrochloric acid in Virgil stomach, was going to leave a sizeable hole where the hospital currently stood. The capsule was designed to corrode.

It was only a matter of time before the container eroded and the resultant explosion obliterated everything in a good five hundred metre radius.

The only reason it hadn't was because it had gotten stuck on the way down, caught in the oesophageal wall, and the acid concentration was low where it had lodged.

There was a frozen moment of silence after Brains delivered the diagnosis.

It was broken by a single whimper from the bed, Virgil struggling against his own unconsciousness.

"Fuck." It came out in a rush of pain, anguish and fear.

-o-o-o-

End Part Three


	4. Chapter 4

Title: The Hero

Sequel/companion piece to The Joker

Part Four

Author: Gumnut

12 - 18 Nov 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his 'bird. Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'. Gordon is far more than he seems.

Word count: 5158

Spoilers & warnings: Violence, WASP!Gordon, Military!Scott, whump, language.

Timeline: Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'.

Author's note: For corbyinoz because she has written some magnificent Virgil and Gordon fics and is a great inspiration. Thank you for all your wonderful words.

Well, this chapter took forever and is much longer than the other three. So much plot to manipulate. I hope you enjoy it :D

It started with 'The Joker'. I got interested in WASP!Gordon and decided to explore his side of the story. Then PLOT happened. Now I have no idea what is going on.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for putting up with my crazy.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

"We have to get it out of him." Gordon's voice bounced about unheard.

The hospital was in an uproar, doctors and security arguing, IR temporarily shoved to one side as the 'authorities' determined what to do with the bomb in their midst.

"And who exactly are you asking to risk their lives to do that?" The question came from their chief of security, a brawny man, head shaved with a permanent frown carved into his forehead.

Scott straightened up to his full height, those couple of inches and his stony expression amply compensating for any extra muscle in the room. "Show me what to do, and I'll do it myself."

"And what training do you have?"

Blue eyes snapped to the Chief of Medicine. "All IR personnel are trained paramedics, Doctor."

Gordon's heart was pounding hard enough to jump out of his chest. Paramedics, yes, but this was surgery...on Virgil.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" A whir of machinery and a blur of white coat and dark hair and Virgil's principle doctor shot into the room. "Commander Robertson, what are you doing with my patient and why are all these people in his room?"

The Chief of Medicine held up his hands defensively. "Dr Harris, we have a situation."

"I bloody well think you do. Get all these people the hell out of this room. Mr Tracy does not need...what do you think you're doing?! You are not moving him!"

"Doctor! The man has a bomb inside him that could destroy this entire hospital."

"I don't care if he has a bloody nuke inside him. He is my patient and moving him like that could damn well kill him." She shot over to the nervous orderly and shoved him out of the way, revealing an IV knotted in the bed frame and pulling on not only Virgil's venous catheter, but also dislodging his oxygen supply.

Scott was moving. Gordon frowned and grabbed his arm. Wait a moment.

The furious doctor untangled the medical equipment and checked Virgil was comfortable, her fingers deftly checking his responses.

Virgil didn't respond at all.

"Get out." Her voice was sharp.

"Doctor Harris-"

"Need I remind you why you called me in, Commander?"

"Doctor Harris!"

She straightened as much as she could in her hoverchair, her eyes steely, her lips thin.

"He must be evacuated to a safe location."

"He will be." And Gordon's sister stalked in through the door. The aquanaut stared as every man present stepped back to make room for her. Tin's expression was like a battering ram. "Commander Robertson, a moment please."

The Chief of Medicine approached her warily. Gordon didn't quite hear what his sister said to the man, but the shock on his face was followed by a command that dismissed everyone.

The room emptied for all except Scott, Gordon, Kayo, Doctor Harris, Robertson, and, of course, his unconscious brother.

It still felt cramped.

"Commander, time is short. My brother needs help. Can you provide it?" Kayo's eyes were fiery.

"I cannot ask any of my staff to risk their lives-"

"For god's sake, Ray, do you have any idea who these people are? How many lives they have saved?"

The man spun on the spot and glared at the doctor. "I will not risk this hospital and all the people in it for one man. We save as many lives as they do."

Beside Gordon, Scott stiffened even more. "Tell us what needs to be done!"

Pale blue eyes set in even paler skin turned to Scott and targeted him. "Mr Tracy." She glanced back at Virgil a moment before moving around the end of the bed. A flick of controls and the hoverchair lifted her a little higher in order to come face to face with the IR Commander. "Virgil needs an upper endoscopy. A camera and micro tools will need to be passed down his oesophagus. There is a possibility part of his oesophageal lining will need to be cut and sutured in order to remove the device." Her eyes flashed and Gordon was ever so glad he wasn't the one they were aimed at. "Do you think your skills reach that far?"

"Do I have a choice, Doctor?" Scott was a picture of tension. "And the longer we sit here talking about it the higher the chance I lose my brother."

"You can't operate in this hospital."

Robertson jumped as Kayo turned to face him again. "We can evacuate to Thunderbird Two and fly to a remote area to perform the operation, or to..." Her voice drifted off into a silent room, her eyes catching her brothers'.

Gordon's heart stopped and he glanced at his wan co-pilot. "Screw this, we need to get moving. Scott, are we go?"

His big brother was as pale as the sheets his brother was wrapped in. Voice firm but parched. "We are go."

"Not on my watch, you're not." Doctor Harris glared at both of them. "He's my patient." A glance up and down at Scott. "You can be my nurse." She turned to the other doctor in the room. "Ray, I need your endoscopy equipment."

"Em, you are not a gastroenterologist and you are not operating in this hospital!"

"God, Ray, you can shove your bloody hospital where the sun doesn't shine. It's not like I want to come back here after this fiasco. And no, I'm not a specialist, but I do have enough emergency surgery experience to have shoved just enough instruments in just enough orifices to know what the hell I am doing. Apparently, I'm all these poor blokes have since you're showing your true colours. Give me the damned equipment and I will help this man on a plane in the middle of nowhere if I have to."

"Em, this is your life!"

"And it is worth less than his! Move your ass!"

Robertson looked about ready to explode, but a shift in stance by Kayo had him glance over at the Tracys before skittering out of the room.

He left silence behind him.

Until a whir of hoverjets and Doctor Harris turned back to Scott so abruptly, her thin and limp legs shook in their harness. "If we are going to do this, we will need to be fast."

Scott shifted his feet. "We can do fast."

-o-o-o-

The night grew late and Gordon found himself slouching into the couch. Virgil had been the principle injured brother in the incident, but Gordon had his fair share of bruises and the aftermath had been a major strain. Not to mention the alcohol he had consumed.

It was catching up.

"Mister Gordon, you should listen to your body." Kyrano sat calmly on the couch beside him, far too upright and calm for Gordon's liking.

"K, I'm fine." But a pair of blue eyes had targeted him and he knew he was going to be nagged to bed at any moment. "And drop the 'mister', it makes you sound like a servant or something."

"A simple sign of respect, Mister Gordon."

Gordon groaned. "Yes, Mister Kyrano."

"'Master' would be more applicable in that instance."

The aquanaut stared at him. Kyrano's expression was completely serious...except for the tiniest of curve of his lips.

"God, you're still an ass."

"Respect, Mister Gordon, goes a long way. You should remember that."

It had been a long time since the first 'mister'. Hell, Gordon couldn't have been more than six years old the first time the security specialist had addressed him that way. As a kid, it was ego-chuffing. As an adult it was a little uncomfortable. The Tracys might be billionaires, but no one was beneath them. Except perhaps the Hood. He was beneath everyone.

Gordon blinked.

"He's your brother." It came out without thought. The news of Kayo's relationship to their nemesis was a couple of years old now, but they hadn't encountered Kyrano during that time.

His former teacher did not react other than a brief flicker in those green eyes. "Half-brother."

"What's the story?"

"Gordon-" Scott was cut off as Kyrano held up his hand.

"Bela Gaat, was born of my mother, against her will, during a time she and our family prefer not to discuss. Suffice to say, he is my older half-brother whose heritage differs considerably from my own."

"Bela Gaat." The name fell from Scott's lips like a gasped curse. "You've known who he is all this time." It wasn't a question, but it was.

Green eyes met blue, unflinching. "And what power has his name? Can it stop him from hunting your family?"

Internally, Gordon sighed as Scott visibly flared. "Any information would have helped, Kyrano."

"If it had, I would have given it to you."

"What else do you know?"

"Not enough."

"K, please." All chances of sleep now gone, Gordon struggled to find the energy this discussion suddenly needed.

Green eyes turned to him and for the first time in his life, Gordon saw vulnerability beyond the steel.

Shit.

"I was not aware of his existence until shortly after Tanusha was born. He came to us, needing assistance. For some time, he dwelt with our family as a brother and an uncle. It was a pleasant for a while." Those eyes darted between the two Tracys. "I regret my kindness more than you will ever know."

"What happened?" It was like watching a car crash. He couldn't look away.

"Tanusha lost her mother, her grandfather and, to a certain extent, her father." Lips thinned. "Jeff Tracy was her saviour. And ultimately, Bela took him, too."

A silence followed that statement. Gordon simply staring, his brain tumbling with permutations. Beside him Scott was stiff as a board.

"The man is a curse to all he touches. You will always be Mister Gordon and Mister Tracy as I owe you more than you will ever know."

-o-o-o-

Only the man unconscious in his 'bird's medbay could have landed Thunderbird Two more gently than Scott did in the middle of the Simpson Desert. Outside the temperatures soared, but Two's life support denied it any impact on the atmosphere inside the great green 'bird.

Gordon felt her landing struts touch sand and rock from within the medbay. He had been conscripted as a nurse, Doctor Harris giving sharp and clear instructions during the short flight across half the Australian continent. Gordon had no doubt Penny had had to talk fast to get them access to the nearest vacant space, IR emergency codes likely stretched to the limit. John had sworn over comms at least once as the Australian authorities were not happy accepting an unknown incendiary device onto their turf.

John and Penny made it happen. They could smooth ruffled feathers later.

He just hoped they were fast enough.

The doctor had an array of equipment deployed around his brother. She was remarkably fast. He had never seen a hoverchair so deftly manipulated at such speed.

"Gordon, please secure your brother's restraints. We can't risk anaesthesia with what is already in his system. He's out cold, but I can't guarantee he will stay that way."

The aquanaut stared at her for a second before shaking himself and doing as she bade. Virgil was propped on his side in preparation for the operation, not the optimal position for restraint, but they had to make do.

His brother's hands were cold in his as he immobilised them. Straps across his arms, around his chest, legs and ankles, each strap tightening Gordon's throat further. He prayed Virgil would sleep through it all. The thought of his brother waking up in the middle of the operation...

God, please no. Please don't hurt him any further.

"Are you okay?" Pale eyes were assessing him.

"I'm fine."

"You were injured during the incident."

"Superficial."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"Focus on Virgil. He needs you more than I do."

Those eyes fixed on him a moment longer and he got the distinct impression he had been added to the list of 'her patients'. The thought was mildly alarming.

Scott barrelled into the room, Kayo a step behind him. "We're down and secured. Are we ready?"

Doctor Harris straightened. "We're ready."

The words were said and it all just happened. Masks were donned, hands were sterilised and surgically gloved, gowns were shoved over baldric-less uniforms and Gordon found himself handing instruments to a focussed Doctor Harris. He watched as the endoscope was fed down his brother's throat and he shut down his emotional responses, letting calm settle as he distanced himself from what was happening before him.

Scott's steely expression as he sat at Virgil's head, monitoring his breathing, reflected the pain ignored in Gordon's gut.

Above his prone brother, the endoscope display scrolled along Virgil's oesophageal lining.

"I'm getting signal interference." The doctor frowned.

"John." Scott said his brother's name and the response was immediate, the display clearing abruptly. "Thank you, Thunderbird Five."

And there it was. The tiny bomb flickered once on the display. "Ask your Eye in the Sky for a reading on the capsule stability." Harris' voice was calm and sharp.

"Thunderbird Five, take instruction from Doctor Harris. Loop into the scanner." A pause. "Deploy Eos, if necessary."

"FAB." John's voice was its usual clear and calm balm. "Doctor Harris, capsule stability is poor." A pause as John flickered numbers above the table, his holographic form blinking in beside them. "I don't think forceps are an option."

"Then we'll have to cut it out."

Gordon swallowed in sympathy.

"Doctor, you are going to have to prevent it from travelling further into his digestive system."

"I am well aware of that, Thunderbird Five."

It was odd hearing that callsign uttered by someone other than a member of International Rescue.

Gordon stared at the display. A flicker of medical shielding and a microlaser shot out, slicing into his brother. A glance down at Virgil, his skin was still pale, his mouth held open by a surgical guard, a cap covering his hair, Scott's hand resting gently on his head.

It suddenly occurred to Gordon that these minutes could quite well be their last. One wrong move and that pill inside his brother would take them all. He should be alarmed, fearful, but he wasn't. He stared at his eldest brother's fingers laying gently on Virgil's head and he knew he was exactly where he needed to be. There would regrets. For the doctor, for his sister, his brothers and those left behind. But not for himself. He would die doing what he was meant to do.

And then he'd hunt down the bastards who did this to his brother and haunt their asses to death.

Or insanity. Have them jumping at shadows and drooling on the carpet. That might be more satisfying.

The laser cauterised as it cut, the medical shielding inching over the gap to prevent gastric leakage.

"Get your lockbox ready."

Kayo moved from the other side of the room, a containment capsule in hand. Inside was a specimen dish. Harris retracted the endoscopic tool, a tiny part of his brother held in its clawed tip. The bomb sat cushioned in flesh. The doctor placed it ever so carefully in the dish and Kayo closed the capsule.

The capsule wouldn't contain the explosion if it was triggered, but it did prevent jostling of its contents.

Kayo was out the door. Scott caught Gordon's eyes as he rose to his feet, his hand still gentle on Virgil's head. And his big brother was moving. "I'll launch as smoothly as I can, but it won't be perfect."

"You worry about flying, I'll worry about my patient, Commander." The doctor didn't even look up, her eyes focussed on the micro-sutures she was stitching.

Scott's fingers touched Virgil's head one more time, ever so gently, and he, too, left the room.

"We need to move fast. With that bomb went whatever drug was keeping your brother under. I do not want him waking up in this situation."

They were fast enough.

Kayo got the bomb out of Thunderbird Two and onto the desert sands where she left it. Scott got them off the ground before it could explode. Harris finished her suturing and got the endoscope out of his brother before he could stir.

The Australian authorities got bomb disposal out to the Simpson Desert and contained the fallout.

Penny got to have afternoon tea with the Prime Minister.

Thunderbird Two returned to Wellington, however Doctor Harris demanded they attend Wellington Hospital rather than returning to the military complex. Her scorn of Ray Robertson was rather extensive and Gordon had suspicions that there was more to that equation than she was letting on.

But he didn't care. He got to sit beside Virgil and watch a pair of dopey brown eyes finally open and focus on him.

"Hey, Virgil."

"G'don." A slow blink. "He c'n't have you, n't gonna let him." And those eyes slipped closed again.

Gordon slumped in his seat before reaching out and touching his brother's hair. Dark strands slipped through his fingers.

Quietly. "No, Virg, I know you won't."

-o-o-o-

Scott was called off on Tracy Industries business the next morning...the last few days of neglect due to Virgil's injuries now needing to be compensated for. So, it was Gordon and John who spent the next day running through Tracy Island's security with Kyrano. Brains was called in when necessary, but he was clearly uncomfortable with the specialist and made himself scarce as soon as possible.

Kyrano ignored him.

"What's the sensor rotational period?"

Gordon raised an eyebrow. "You know that. We argued over it extensively and you won."

"Refresh my memory."

"One fiftieth of a second."

"Increase it."

"What?"

"You have a window enough to slip a missile through." The Malay's expression was solemn.

"There is no missile that can breach that period."

"That you know of."

Gordon stared at him. "The energy expenditure will double."

"Better than losing half an island."

Gordon continued to stare. "Okay, I'll speak to Brains and Kayo." Tin's absence spoke volumes. It was likely she was performing her own assessments, but he could almost guarantee she was listening in. There was no way she was going to compromise the Island's security because of a tiff with her father. She'd listen in and make her own decisions.

"Her name is Tanusha."

"Her name is whatever she wants it to be." Gordon sighed. "C'mon, K, what are we going to do about these Null people? They hurt Virg bad."

Green eyes fastened on him. "How is he? I have yet to see him."

"Sleeping. He has a lot of recovery to get through."

"I hope to see him later today. He might have some intel on those who captured you."

Gordon held up a hand. "K, no, don't."

"Mister Gordon, we need every bit of information we can gather."

"We have enough. Virgil doesn't remember much at all."

"Yet you chose to hide what he does remember from me."

"For personal reasons! Nothing of a security nature."

"Everything is important."

"No, K, just no! Leave Virgil alone." His brother had gone through enough. "Anything you need to know can come from me. I was conscious the entire time."

Kyrano eyed him. "Why do you feel the need to protect Mister Virgil from me? I mean him no harm. And our relationship has been well tended over the years. We correspond regularly."

Gordon stared. "You do?"

"Most certainly, Mister Virgil has been in contact for many years." An arched eyebrow. "Unlike some."

"I didn't know that." Really? Virgil had never mentioned any regular contact with Gordon's mentor. What had they spoken about?

"Perhaps if you put more effort into communication in general, you would know."

The stare turned into a narrow-eyed glare. "Communication takes two, K. I haven't heard a thing from you. So, apparently, you'll speak to my brother, but not me. Got an answer for that?"

Those green eyes held him for a moment before looking away. "Life is far from perfect, Mister Gordon."

"Hah! Philosophical wank, K, is not an answer." Okay, so it did hurt. Of all his brothers, Gordon thought he had connected the most with their security specialist. At least until he disappeared on them.

"Sometimes there is no answer." It was said somewhat wistfully and for a moment sadness passed over the man's face only to be quickly pushed aside.

Gordon frowned. "K?"

His mentor straightened, his posture ramrod. "Sensor density?"

Lips thinned, Gordon's eyes caught Kyrano's challenging him. But as always, the older man was dominant and a flicker of an eyebrow had his protege turning back to the instrumentation. "Five per thousand metres, but overlap is considerable."

Kyrano sighed. " More, Mister Gordon, you cannot afford to compromise."

A sigh. "How did I know you were going to say that?"

-o-o-o-

"C'mon, Virgil, I know you're in there. Time to wake up."

His brother had slept and slept. Doctor Harris said it was normal. Hell, Virgil slept like the dead when perfectly healthy, but it had been over a day and both Gordon and Scott needed the reassurance that their brother was with them.

Best way to do that was the same way he did it when the man crashed on the couch at home.

"Viiiiiiiirgiiiiiiiil."

The man's eyes shot open and glared at him. "What?!"

Wow. Poke the bear and you get snarled at. "Ooh, welcome back to the land of the living. Nice entrance."

"Gordon, what the hell? Let me sleep."

"Nope."

He watched as Virgil drifted and, for a moment, he thought he had lost him again. But those eyes opened and stared at the world around him with an awareness that Gordon hadn't seen in days.

God, it was a relief.

"Why am I in hospital?"

He saw the dots connect and he was reaching out as Virgil shot up yelling about a trap. Scott, sitting on the other side of the bed caught their brother the same time Gordon did. The engineer wobbled where he sat and they lowered him back down to the bed.

"Take it easy, Virgil, you've been through quite a bit." The moment Scott spoke, Virgil's attention narrowed on their eldest brother. Gordon could have been offended, but really, that was just the way things were. They all looked to Scott for guidance, but none more so than Virgil.

"What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

Virgil spouted off the basics and then, thank god, he ran out of specifics. "A fight. I lost?"

Scott hesitated a second, Virgil didn't appear to notice. "We think so. You have quite a lot of bruising, a couple of cracked ribs and two head injuries."

Gordon frowned and Scott shot him a look that clearly said 'shut up'.

"Two?"

"Yeah, and you also had a bloodstream full of some nasty chemicals. They drugged you pretty bad. Took the doctors some time to identify with exactly what. You've been mostly out of it for a couple of days."

"Days?!"

"You were unconscious for most of it."

Brown eyes darted back and forth between the two brothers and frowned. "Most of it?"

"Yeah."

That gaze narrowed once again on Scott. His brother glanced at Gordon again, before looking at his watch.

Virgil caught the shift in gaze and frowned even more. "What did I do?"

"Nothing of importance." Scott finally made eye contact with Virgil.

"Like what?" Their brother had a history of bad reactions to medications and there was a familiar worry in those eyes. Scott's omission of certain details became clear. He was distracting Virgil by planting the suspicion that he had done something outlandish while out of it.

Well, he had, really, but there was no way Gordon was going to make fun of his brother's faith in him. Not on pain of death.

"There was some delirium. Look, Virgil, you were ill. Don't worry about it."

Virgil was obviously suspicious and no doubt they would have to come up with something in the short term. At least until Virgil was ready to hear the truth. A truth Scott had obviously decided to keep to himself for the moment.

"How did we get out?"

Scott shifted Virgil's attention in his direction. "Gordon got you out."

And those brown eyes latched onto Gordon with that same faith he'd seen in that hangar. It should be funny. It should be something he could rib his brother about. But no.

It chilled him.

So, he threw it away with humour, ducking out of the questions with flippancy and misdirection. So much misdirection that Virgil, even in his half-awake state realised something was wrong and peppered him with questions about his health.

The faith turned to worry and the world righted itself. His big brother taking his place once again and checking up on him.

"He's fine, Virgil. Stop worrying." Scott's exasperation was obvious, emphasised by a glare shot in Gordon's direction. "He's just being Gordon...and if he doesn't stop, I'm going to kick his ass."

Gordon froze.

Those brown eyes flicked back to him and the faith appeared again. "You got us out of there."

"That I did."

"Thank you."

"Anytime, bro." He forced a grin under that admiring gaze. I'm the goofball brother, remember? "Anytime."

The soft smile that appeared on Virgil's face almost broke him. But those brown eyes were closing again.

"Go back to sleep, Virgil." Despite himself, he reached out and rested his hand on his brother's arm.

"Knew you could do it." It was whispered and his brother's eyes did not open again.

Well, shit.

Virgil's breathing shifted into the soft regularity of sleep, but Gordon just sat there and stared.

-o-o-o-

"What I want to know, Colonel Casey, is why International Rescue was not informed that we could expect an attack on one of our vessels."

Colonel Casey's hologram could not have been standing straighter, but that was nothing unusual. "And I, Commander, would like to know how you discovered that information."

Brown eyes met blue and Gordon swore there was a flash in the air where their energies fought each other. Scott stood next to him equally ramrod straight, fury in his stance. "I think that is rather redundant now, Colonel, since I have two operatives injured due to a neglect in communications."

"Scott, you need to rein in Thunderbird Five. The damage your brother did to the GDF network is not something I can cover up."

"I'm not asking you to cover up anything, Colonel. John did nothing to your network. We have our sources. We don't need to hack your systems to discover a truth we should have been told long before it put a Tracy in the hospital."

Okay, technically Scott wasn't lying. Eos hacked the GDF, Eos found the information and she could be considered a source...technically.

Scott and Gordon were alone in the comms room. Virgil still hadn't left his suite. Gordon had checked on his earlier and found him still fast asleep. He wasn't going to disturb that sleep. Alan had taken Grandma to the mainland for a supply run...otherwise known as a distraction enough to keep their matriarch out of the kitchen and come back with plenty of edibles. That left Brains in his lab and Kayo and Kyrano prowling around each other in the security offices.

Gordon chose to keep well out of that and the moment Scott finished his conference call with Tracy Industries, he joined him in what was looking to be the confrontation of the century between the GDF and IR.

"Do you expect me to believe that, Commander?" Casey's voice had lost all the godmother and had an edge of steel.

"I expect to be reliably informed of any danger to my operatives, Colonel."

The ranks being tossed around had Gordon wanting to dig up his lieutenant bars in self-defence.

"Commander, we had our reasons for withholding the information. Our relationship has a certain amount of trust in it. I had hoped you would consider that before questioning."

"Virgil nearly died. He had a bomb in his throat that didn't explode simply through pure chance!"

That did it. The colonel's expression flickered for a moment, like a broken holosignal, and their horrified godmother peeked through.

But only for a moment.

"Commander, the decision was made for a valid reason."

"And what reason is that?"

"That International Rescue has been compromised."

Gordon froze. "What?"

Those brown eyes flickered to him, their gaze scanning the bruises on his face, no doubt. Aunt Val's shoulders settled a little. "The group call themselves 'Null', they claim their aim is to end the war between the Chaos Crew and International Rescue."

"We know that." Scott's voice gave no ground.

"A source advised us that an attack was planned, but we had very little detail. It was our hope that we would be able to respond quickly enough with that intel."

"You didn't." So, so cold. "And despite our team's sacrifices, you failed to capture a single perpetrator. In fact, if it wasn't for a civilian doctor in a military hospital that refused to assist us, Virgil would be dead."

Why Gordon was feeling so distant from events that had so intimately involved him, he didn't know. Scott's fury was a volcanic presence beside him, threatening to take out everything in its path. In contrast, Gordon felt cold, more like a glacier than a lava flow. Cold, still, but ultimately inevitable.

"How are we compromised?" Gordon's voice sounded inadequate against the gravity of the question.

Again, that brown gaze caught his. "A known associate of International Rescue has been identified as a major player in the Null group. It was decided that it was unsafe to notify you of our knowledge in case the information was leaked to that person."

A shift of his feet. "Leaked to who?"

-o-o-o-

Virgil woke in pain.

But that was nothing unusual. His ribs ached and there was the nastiness deep in his throat. Swallowing hurt.

At least his head had stopped aching. All he had to contend with there was the fog, which, no doubt, would double once his brothers worked out he was awake and delivered his pain medication.

Ugh.

It sucked to be him.

He rolled over and his whole body complained. Maybe drugs would be a good idea. He reached for his comms.

There was a knock at the door.

Speak of the devil? "Come in?" His voice came out dry and parched and it set him coughing, something he shouldn't be doing.

The moment blurred as his body shook. A hand landed in his hair and he leant into it until he could get his breathing under control.

His eyes were teary and he had to blink to clear them, looking up expecting to see Scott frowning down at him.

It wasn't Scott.

"Kyrano?"

"Hello, Mister Virgil."

-o-o-o-

End Part Four


	5. Chapter 5

Title: The Hero

Sequel/companion piece to The Joker

Part Five

Author: Gumnut

20 Nov 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his 'bird. Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'. Gordon is far more than he seems.

Word count: 2301

Spoilers & warnings: Violence, WASP!Gordon, Military!Scott, whump, language.

Timeline: Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'.

Author's note: For corbyinoz because she has written some magnificent Virgil and Gordon fics and is a great inspiration. Thank you for all your wonderful words.

Half the size of the last chapter, but it called for a cut here. I hope you enjoy it :D

It started with 'The Joker'. I got interested in WASP!Gordon and decided to explore his side of the story. Then PLOT happened. Now I have no idea what is going on.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for putting up with my crazy.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Tanusha Kyrano baffled Gordon Tracy.

She was the same age as he was, so theoretically he should have had a new friend who could team up with him against all older and younger brothers.

But she wouldn't let him in.

The girl was standoffish, never smiled and even showed fear at his presence at times. When her father was around, she clung to him.

It took Gordon a long time to work it all out, after all there was only so much an eight-year-old could possibly understand about the world. Over time she did relent and grew closer to all the brothers, though more than some.

She never did quite trust Gordon.

Oh, he had no doubt she loved him like a brother as he loved her like a sister, but there was always something caught between them.

Perhaps he should not have pranked her when she was so young...when she was vulnerable, but he hadn't understood and the damage had been done.

He had only wanted to make her smile.

But Tanusha Kyrano had been hurt far too much in her young life and it showed.

As they grew up, she followed him into school, into his classes. There was the time he stood up to the bullies who cornered her in the gym.

Several years later, she returned the favour, nearly crippling a boy in the process.

His father hadn't been happy.

Kyrano had frowned, but even Gordon had the astuteness to see that sparkle in the security officer's eyes.

No one messed with Kayo after that.

Scott had sat her down and there had been words. The eldest Tracy liked to keep his ragtag entourage on the right side of the law.

Gordon just smiled and elbowed her in the ribs.

Her smile in return had lifted his spirits more than any grin ever could have.

From that point on, she was his sister on all fronts.

When Jeff Tracy disappeared, she was already fully groomed to support International Rescue. She stepped into her father's role like she was made for it.

She was.

But the smiles disappeared.

But then no one was smiling on Tracy Island for quite some time.

Then a burly rescuee caught Gordon off guard and landed him in the hospital. Scott was worried. Virgil, hovering.

Kayo was livid.

The tongue lashing she gave him was one for the record books. The moment he was mobile and functional, her training response began.

All the brothers were caught up in it. Virgil complained like crazy, Alan whined, John tried to hide until Kayo rode the elevator herself and dragged him down by the scruff of his uniform.

How she found a scruff on that skin tight garment was one of the major mysteries of their time.

Scott just backed her up in full.

Even when she wiped the mat with him.

Sixteen times.

But Gordon...Gordon found his feet. Grief had knocked the family sideways. This return to training, to honing his body to its best, it was familiar and it made him better.

It became ritual, one they both enjoyed.

And he could almost match her.

Almost.

Until one day he did.

-o-o-o-

"Hello, Mister Virgil."

Virgil blinked up at the silver-haired man and frowned. "What are you doing here?" He steeled himself and pushed his body upright, gritting his teeth as absolutely everything complained, but there was no way he was lying down for this conversation.

A hand caught him and helped him right himself.

He sat on the edge of the bed. A moment to catch his breath.

And he realised he was shirtless and only wearing pyjama shorts.

A flash of modesty and he came to the conclusion that he didn't have the energy to care.

Kyrano grabbed a chair and sat down in front of him. "How are you, Mister Virgil?"

A sigh. "Been better. Scott call you in?"

"He did." Those green eyes were assessing. "What happened?"

Virgil closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. "I got my ass handed to me."

"You did." He didn't have to look to know those green eyes were tracking the bruising across his torso. "What did they want?"

"The usual."

"Specifics."

Virgil paused and looked up at the man. "What, Scott didn't give you the details?"

"I need to hear your version."

"Bad guys, wanted my 'bird, beat me up, Gordon saved me, we came home. End of story."

"They had you drugged and restrained. What did they want?"

The man's bluntness cut to the core of the matter and it hurt more than his ribs. "As I said, my 'bird." He stared at Kyrano and something chewed on the back of his mind. There was something...

"Do you know who they were?"

"Scott knows. Some new group, Null? Got it in for us and the Chaos Crew. Apparently, we're the easier target." The logic behind that just hurt. Who thought there would be so much opposition to he and his brothers simply trying to save lives? Sometimes the world just sucked.

"Mister Virgil, did you recognise any of them?"

A blink. "What?"

"Were any of your captors familiar?"

Involuntarily, his mind was flung back to that woozy fog. His memory was patchy and faded in and out. "They were going to hurt Gordon." Panic swelled as the memories caught him. "Can't let him hurt Gordon!"

His agitated voice echoed around his bedroom and snapped him out of the memory.

Him.

The image was blurry. He had been held down and something shoved into his mouth. Something. Forced to swallow.

Sad green eyes.

Oh, hell.

-o-o-o-

"Kyrano?" Gordon just stared at his aunt. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Kyrano has been a member of this family for a long time, Colonel. You better have proof to back up that statement." Scott's voice was cold.

"As a similar member of your family, Scott, I hope you would trust me enough to not make such an accusation lightly. He was recently identified in conversation with the leaders of the Null faction."

Gordon flared. "How the hell do you manage to uncover information like that, yet can't catch a single asshole?"

Brown eyes swung around and pinned him where he stood. "I know your confidence in the GDF has fallen in recent years, Gordon, but trust me when I say we are not completely useless."

Could have fooled me. But he didn't say it. "Conversation? Doesn't specify much."

"Lieutenant, have you considered why we did not capture any Null operatives after this incident?"

She hadn't called him by his rank in years. It straightened his spine regardless. "Why?"

"Because your operative was onsite. There were casualties."

Gordon froze. Casualties. But... "Well, that vetoes your theory. Kyrano wouldn't let himself be seen unless he wanted you to see him."

"What he wanted is unknown, but he was there, Lieutenant. My question is, do you know where he is now?"

Gordon opened his mouth, but Scott cut him off. "Why, Colonel?"

Her eyes grew cold. "Don't protect him, Commander. This goes far beyond you and I. He is a dangerous man."

"I am well aware of his capabilities, Commander. As I am yours."

Her lips thinned. "Pride before the fall, Scott. Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm en route." She paused a moment. A blink and her eyes softened. "Scott, you're family. Please believe me, I don't want to see you or your brothers hurt."

Scott tilted his head just slightly. "We're already hurt, Aunt Val. I'm sorry, but your concerns are a few injuries too late."

His brother's words hit hard and Gordon held back a flinch as his aunt took a step back. "Very well, Commander. I will see you shortly." The transmission cut, leaving silence in the comms room.

Except for the blood in his ears.

Gordon jabbed his comms, bruising his collarbone in the process. "Kayo, is Kyrano with you?"

Her negative came back immediately. "He left a good fifteen minutes ago. I thought he was with you?"

A sigh. "He isn't. Tin, you need to find him now."

"FAB."

Scott's voice was sharp and desolate. "Thunderbird Five, give me a location on Kyrano."

John flickered in. "You know I can't track him, Scott."

"Find him." The tone brooked no argument and John blinked out.

The eyes that turned to Gordon were tortured. "If he was on site..."

"He wanted to speak to Virgil. He has been very interested in Virgil."

A moment and Scott was moving, Gordon on his heels.

-o-o-o-

Virgil froze his expression, but he had never been good at lying or obfuscation.

"Mister Virgil." The older man sighed and shook his head. "I am so sorry." Those green eyes were sad again and it chilled him.

"Kyrano?"

"You were always the gentle one. You took such care of Tanusha. The music maker, the artist. I did hope you could not remember. But I can't let that go."

Images flickered in Virgil's head, his brain attempting to reconcile the quiet, calm man of his childhood with the foggy blur who had hurt him.

With the sad man before him.

He shifted back on the bed, attempting to gain distance, but Kyrano reached into his tunic and pulled out a familiar electroshock weapon and shoved it into Virgil's thigh.

The result was immediate. His whole body locked up, pain pulsing in waves as his muscles spasmed. It seemed to go on forever. He couldn't cry out, couldn't scream, couldn't breathe.

And it stopped.

Blood stole his hearing as he gasped in air, his lungs struggling to compensate. His body failed to respond to any of his commands to move away and he lay limp on the bed while Kyrano straightened up, staring down at him.

"I had hoped you would at least put up a fight. It isn't like I want to put you down like a dog. I'd rather not kill you at all."

Virgil opened his mouth, at first gaping like a fish, desperately trying to form a word.

Kyrano continued to gaze calmly down at him.

Supreme effort and Virgil got out one word in little more than a gasp. "W-why?"

"Because I have no choice." And there was true sadness in those green eyes. "I can't..." A swallow. "I tried..." He shook his head. "What has to be done, is done." Something truly pain-filled flickered across his face.

He pulled a small box out of his pocket and, opening it, held up a tiny pill. "Now it is time for you to go to sleep and never wake up."

No.

This couldn't be right.

Kyrano was a second father. He had been there all his life. He couldn't...

Virgil tried to drag himself across the bed and away, but his limbs wouldn't respond correctly. The bed covers scrunched up under him.

"I have always admired that Tracy stubbornness. It has kept your family alive and moving through so many challenges." A hand clamped onto Virgil's leg and yanked. "I wish it could do the same this time."

"No! N-no, don't!" But Kyrano was pulling him closer, a hand clamped around his neck, a knee pressed down on his throbbing thigh.

A shadow appeared behind Kyrano and the man spun off Virgil, leaving him gasping.

"Daughter. I expected better from you." The voice was calm and while Virgil attempted to regain control of his breathing, there was little more than the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

"Still predictable, I see." Something smashed. Virgil desperately tried to move, to struggle off the bed. Kayo. He squeezed his eyes shut. Pull yourself together. Kyrano was going to hurt Kayo.

His daughter.

This couldn't be right.

He finally turned his body enough to see the two opponents.

There was killing force at work.

Kayo had always been impressive, but this was beyond it all. Their bodies were a blur and every movement was counteracted by the other.

His sister's expression was contorted.

A matter of seconds and her father broke through her defences. A single targeted stroke and Tanusha flew across the room to collide with the window sill. A sickening thud and his sister collapsed to the floor.

She didn't get up.

"Oh, Tanusha." Virgil frowned as the man wiped away a tear. "I tried to spare you. I tried so hard."

"Kyrano!" Scott stood in the door, a weapon in his hand.

The security officer didn't hesitate. Spinning he struck out ever so fast. The gun went flying. The electroshock weapon whipped into Kyrano's hand and jabbed into Scott's gut.

His brother spasmed and collapsed, twitching, his blue eyes open but vacant.

Virgil finally managed to throw himself off the bed.

He slid to a heap on the floor, little better off than his brother.

Kyrano turned to him. "I am so sorry, Mister Virgil." The man reached down and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "It has to be done more than ever now. At least it will bring all of this to an end." A harsh breath. "Finally, an end."

But there was a huff of breath as they were suddenly yanked apart. Virgil hit the ground hard, his ribs screamed.

"Get the fuck away from him."

A grunt. Flesh hitting flesh. Virgil struggled to look up.

"Mister Gordon." A slap.

"What the hell are you doing, K?" Another thud and something crashed to the floor. Virgil finally managed to turn himself around.

Kyrano and Gordon were circling each other. Calm green met furious red brown.

"I do what needs done."

"You tried to kill Virgil."

"I tried to kill all of you."

"You failed."

"I'm not yet finished."

"Yes, you are."

"Your humour is lacking."

"I'm not joking."

"We shall see."

"No, Kyrano, this ends here."

And Gordon leapt.

-o-o-o-


	6. Chapter 6

Title: The Hero

Sequel/companion piece to The Joker

Part Six

Author: Gumnut

21 - 24 Nov 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his 'bird. Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'. Gordon is far more than he seems.

Word count: 2970

Spoilers & warnings: Violence, WASP!Gordon, Military!Scott, whump, language.

Timeline: Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'.

Author's note: For corbyinoz because she has written some magnificent Virgil and Gordon fics and is a great inspiration. Thank you for all your wonderful words.

This fic continues to do as it likes. It would not behave in this chapter at all. Thank you to everyone who yelled at me for the last chapter. Sorry :D ::hugs you all:: You are so kind to me and give me such support :D There is plenty more to come, I promise. I hope you enjoy it :D

It started with 'The Joker'. I got interested in WASP!Gordon and decided to explore his side of the story. Then PLOT happened. Now I have no idea what is going on.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for putting up with my crazy.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

There comes a time in a soldier's life where they discover whether they have what it takes or not.

For Gordon it came unexpectedly and early in his career. An underwater habitat was taken by terrorists. It was a residential facility for a scientific team and there were families and children involved. Gordon was deployed as part of the WASP force to take the habitat back. One of the terrorists was cornered and grabbed a child in order to threaten his way out of the situation. In the process he managed to shoot Gordon's partner and damage Gordon's air supply.

The child could have been no more than five and was absolutely terrified. Holding her by her emergency evac suit, the perp had a weapon pointed at her head.

Perhaps it wouldn't have reached the decision level if it hadn't been for the explosion on the far side of the complex and the accompanying WASP retreat call from his commanding officer.

Or the fact that the criminal grinned at him through his faceplate, knowing his group had won this round.

Gordon wasn't willing to abandon the little girl.

And the guy wasn't willing to let her go.

The report afterwards said necessary force, but the truth of the matter was that Gordon Tracy had been forced to take a life for the first time.

He wasn't quite the same after that.

But he knew he had what it took.

To be who he needed to be.

-o-o-o-

Perhaps he didn't want to do it. Perhaps he was fighting himself. But the sight of two brothers and his sister on the floor and a man who had been his mentor, his idol, a second father, standing there and threatening more harm...

Gordon came down hard.

And his teacher met him with an equal and opposite force, his body moving through form smoothly and without hesitation.

Lips thinned, brows tensed in concentration, it became a dance.

Gordon would feint and strike and Kyrano deflect, only to follow through with his own strike, which in turn was also deflected. Fists became elbows, knees feet and bodies a blur of motion caught only by subconscious perception. Concentration a writhing thing caught between them.

"I have waited for this for so long, Mister Gordon." It was puffed out between actions, green eyes fastened on his opponent, Kyrano said it through gritted teeth. "Perhaps you can finally bring this to an end."

Gordon spun, aiming an elbow for the man's gullet only to have a fist land in his ribcage.

His stance suffered and his elbow hit a shoulder with a crack.

Kyrano didn't even flinch.

"Why are you doing this, K?" The aquanaut flung himself out of reach for a moment, catching his breath and noting on his periphery that Virgil was struggling to sit up beside the bed. "You're family!" It came out as a desperate yell as he had to contort out of the way of kick that would have broken bones.

He spun on one foot and returned the blow, catching his mentor on the hip and shifting his balance. A follow through fist caught ribs and Kyrano, in turn, was forced to fall away and regroup.

"Because I have to. I have no choice." Heavy breathing. "You can end this. I taught you well. You can end this, Mister Gordon."

The words distracted him enough for Kyrano and lash out and drive a fist into his cheek. A snap of bone and pain arced across his face, drilling into his skull.

His grunt spun him away and out of reach. Stars danced in his periphery.

A breath and the Malay struck again, a crack to Gordon's shoulder spun him around and for a moment, his balance wobbled.

"No, you are stronger than this. Fight!"

The man's voice was an echo of Gordon's subconscious. The voice that told him he could keep going, that he would survive if he just tried harder. Its owner was an inspiration, a lead, a role model, a man...

...he loved.

A yell of anguish and he spun on his left foot, his right foot flung out at lethal force.

It connected.

Kyrano was thrown across the room. He collided with Virgil's bookcase, collapsing the shelves and bringing a mass of art books down on his shoulders.

There was silence for a moment, broken only by Gordon's harsh breathing. Why, K, why? His left eye was having trouble focussing and his face was a mass of pain. He moved in to take advantage.

He wasn't fast enough.

A heavy book, Picasso, shot up and shoved into his gut, shoving any and all breath from his body in a strangled groan. The world tipped and he was going down.

He couldn't afford to go down. Kyrano was inevitable as a rockslide. Any advantage and he would take it.

But spots danced before Gordon's eyes.

A flash of Virgil still struggling to right himself.

No.

And Kyrano was on him, hands reaching for his throat.

No.

He twisted mid-air and the spots spun with him, but he rolled as he hit the floor. His foot kicked over Virgil's desk chair with a clatter, but he was able to follow through and stumble to his feet, lungs clawing up his throat desperate for air.

Move.

He moved.

Kyrano followed.

And fell.

Virgil was wrapped around his legs.

His brother yelled his guts out, but it gave Gordon the moment, gave him the strength, to turn and bring a fist down hard enough to disable.

Kyrano's head snapped against the floor once and was still.

The gasping silence returned.

"Restrain him." It was little more than a parched whisper from Virgil. It got Gordon's shocked mind moving.

The spots still danced, but he ignored them and stumbled to Virgil's desk and a roll of framing wire. A pair of cutters and some secure binds later around both hands and feet, Kyrano was immobilised.

Virgil reached into the man's tunic and pulled out the electroshock weapon and handed it to Gordon.

He held it in his palm, staring, as Virgil rolled off Kyrano with a groan and began crawling towards Scott, the closest unconscious family member.

A blink and Gordon moved to check on Tin.

On automatic, his hands moved with practise as he assessed his sister. A cut on her temple, likely caused by the window sill above her. Her vitals were strong. He rolled her into the recovery position and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

A groan from the other side of the room heralded his eldest brother's re-entry into the land of the conscious. He stumbled over, his vision blurring as he moved.

He really needed to sit down.

"John."

"I'm on my way. Docking in three."

"Good."

And then his body made him sit down, the world doing a fairground attraction around his head.

"Gordon?!" Virgil's voice had about as much strength as Gordon had in his limbs.

"Virg..."

Large hands grabbed him, but the world just spun away and left him behind.

-o-o-o-

Virgil caught his brother as best he could, which wasn't very well at all, but at least his head didn't hit the floor.

Moving hurt like hell and it was so frustrating knowing he had the power to help his prone family, but being unable to act on it without screaming.

Beside him, Scott rolled over, curling in on himself, no doubt in as much, if not more pain than Virgil. The engineer clutched his little brother to him best he could, holding up his heavily bruised face. One eye was swelling shut and a distortion in his left cheekbone spoke of serious damage.

His familiar orange shirt of palm trees was speckled with blood.

Somewhat dazed himself, Virgil forced himself to focus. Vitals.

Heart strong.

Breathing.

Laboured.

Gentle fingers probed and Virgil found what he suspected.

Broken ribs.

Brains burst into the room and Virgil startled.

The resultant pain blurred his vision.

He and Gordon were going to be a pair for the next few weeks.

"Brains." It was a word of relief.

"J-John called m-me." His fellow engineer was assessing his eldest brother. "S-Scott?"

"God." The commander pushed himself into a sitting position. "That hurt like hell." He ground his palms into his eyes.

"S-sit quietly, S-Scott. John is c-coming and Alan has b-been r-recalled."

Blue eyes latched on the still form in the middle of the floor. "Is he...?"

Virgil cleared his throat as best he could, but it still came out dry. "Unconscious."

That gaze fixed on Virgil. "Who?"

He looked down at his little brother. "Gordon." He brushed a stray hair off his brother's brow.

"Why?" Scott's eyes were like those of a child who could not understand why a parent had done something horrible.

Probably because that was exactly what had happened.

"I don't know." God, his chest hurt.

In more ways than one.

"He seemed to want Gordon to put an end to something, as if he had come here for this exact reason, to fight him."

"What?"

"I don't know, Scott." Everything hurt.

Kayo groaned and Brains rushed over to her just as John burst into the room. Hover stretchers followed. Quiet words, calm words.

Reassuring words.

God, he wished John would sing more often. He had such a beautiful voice.

"You can let him go now, Virgil." Turquoise eyes pleading quietly.

Virgil looked down at his unconscious little brother. He had to protect Gordon.

He hadn't done a very good job.

He looked up at another little brother. "Look after him."

"I will." A gentle hand on his shoulder. "Rest Virgil."

A blink and he surrendered Gordon to those caring hands. Lost for a moment, he slumped over slowly until he was lying on the floor, the carpet rough under his cheek.

He closed his eyes.

-o-o-o-

Thunderbird Two launched under Alan's expert hands with her infirmary full. Gordon had woken at one point in order to puke on John's boots. He had been in and out ever since. Virgil had had the privilege of witnessing the momentous event and despite all his rescue experience, had nearly puked in sympathy.

Kayo lay on the other bed, her only words consisted of various forms of profanity. Virgil would have been worried regarding Grandma's reaction to such word usage, except her arrival back on the island to find half her family in need of hospitalisation was somewhat similar.

Scott didn't comment either. The man was furious and determined not to be forced into a bed. Instead, he stumbled about Thunderbird Two with an arm wrapped around his gut while Virgil tried to nag him into bed.

Though Virgil had to admit, that if he could move, he would likely be doing the same.

So much betrayal.

The question of why was on loop in his head and, no doubt, his brothers'.

John and Alan had bundled their assailant into proper restraints and then doubled them and followed up with light sedation. Kyrano was as slippery as an eel and all precautions needed to be taken.

All.

At least until the Tracy brothers had the capacity to ask the questions that needed to be asked.

Thunderbird Two was fast, so the GDF flyer would have to catch up once she landed in Wellington, but it was on their tail nonetheless, Colonel Casey on board with more questions than Virgil had hairs on his head.

Virgil and Scott had already discussed it. They couldn't hold Kyrano themselves, but at the same time, how could they trust the GDF to hold him for them?

-o-o-o-

The hospital was a mix of outraged doctor and caring hands.

"Mister Tracy, your prescription was extended rest, yet you come back with exacerbated ribs and a burn on your thigh, a day later." The doctor was glaring at him, her hoverjets an aggravated hiss in the background.

He didn't back down. "Was worth it. How are my brothers?" His voice was dry and ached.

Her lips thinned. "Attended to-" And as if to negate her claim, Scott slipped through the emergency room curtains, arm still wrapped around his torso.

Aunt Val followed him, brown eyes piercing.

Virgil grabbed the bedsheet and yanked it up over his exposed chest. His aunt obviously didn't miss the rainbow of colours on his torso as her expression went almost immediately from military to concerned aunt and back in a split second. He swallowed his embarrassment.

"Excuse me, this is a private consultation." The doctor flared, her dark cloud of hair bouncing as she moved to intercept. "Mister Scott Tracy, you need to sit down." She grabbed the plastic chair beside Virgil's bed and shoved it in his brother's direction.

Val Casey palmed it, and with a firm parental shove, deposited the Commander of International Rescue in its paltry confines. "Listen to the doctor, Scott."

His brother sagged a little. "You can't have him, Colonel. We can't afford to lose him."

It was a non-sequitur for a moment, but a flash of blue and Virgil realised that the GDF were trying to take Kyrano. Scott had come here for support. The fact he had done that only proved to Virgil his brother was flagging and needed to rest before he fell on his face.

Virgil pushed himself up in the bed and suppressed a groan. The doctor spun and glared at him. "Don't you even think of moving."

"Doctor..." Scott's voice was so tired it hurt.

"You assured me that your brother would be appropriately cared for, Mister Tracy."

"Unexpected assassin. My apologies, doctor." But his brother's guilt flickered across his face enough to fire Virgil's anger.

"It wasn't his fault!"

Scott reached out and placed a hand on his brother's leg. "Doesn't matter. We need to speak to Kyrano."

Virgil eyed the Colonel. "Can you hold him?"

"We can."

"No, you can't." Scott's expression was bleak. "I'm sorry, Colonel, but the GDF's record in this leaves much to be desired."

"Give me twenty-four hours, Scott. Enough time for you to recover at least."

"And what happens when he escapes and comes for us again?"

"He won't." Her lips were thin and determined.

Scott sagged just that little bit further and Virgil shifted to climb off the bed. His brother was screaming for help without saying a thing.

But a hand landed on his arm and a whirr of hoverjets saw Doctor Harris moving in on his brother. "Mister Tracy, you need a bed and an examination." Virgil couldn't see her expression, but he could see his brother's and those blue eyes were suddenly vulnerable as they turned to look up at her.

A groan and Scott folded double, clutching at his abdomen.

Shit!

Virgil threw his feet off the bed as the doctor activated her comms and called for assistance. Within moments a team burst through the curtains and flocked around his brother. Sharp crisp words and he was carted out through those same curtains, Doctor Harris following.

Virgil struggled to get off the bed and follow, but his body screamed at him and his progress was stopped by a strong female hand. "He's in good hands, Virgil." The colonel was gone and all that remained was his aunt. He let out an agitated breath and suddenly her arms were around him, her perfume the same from all those years ago.

Memories clogged his brain.

A moment and he was pulling away. He couldn't afford to lose it. Comms in his collar. "John."

His brother answered immediately and Virgil gave him a sitrep. John moved to attend to Scott and reported that Grandma and Alan were assisting Kayo and Gordon respectively.

Virgil signed off and sagged where he sat. "You can't let him go, Aunt Val. You have to promise me you won't lose him." He caught her eyes. "Please, he can't do this to my family again." A swallow. "And we need answers."

"I promise, Virgil."

He so wanted to believe her. "And don't hurt him." It was whispered.

"I will see to it personally." Her hand reached out and rubbed his arm. "Now you need to rest."

The curtains were disturbed again and John slipped through, his expression one of concern. "They've taken Scott to surgery."

Virgil tensed, sitting up straighter. "What? Why?"

But Doctor Harris whizzed in behind his brother. "Because he is as stupid as you and won't rest when he is told. Lie down, Mister Tracy before I tie you to the bed for your own good." She was gruff, but it was a worried, kindly gruff. "Virgil, your brother has some minor internal bleeding. He will be well with some care and some rest. As you will be, if you will just lie down."

Scott, you moron. God, the man just didn't listen. The tension in Virgil's spine ebbed just enough for his body to remind him that, yes, he was sporting multiple injuries and, yes, lying down was mandatory right now, no matter what his opinion.

He slid sideways and would have fallen off the bed if John and Aunt Val hadn't grabbed him.

"Virgil, rest. I've got this." He turned to look up at his brother as his head was lowered gently to the pillow. John's face was tired and worried. He was still in uniform having hit too much gravity far too fast yet again.

Shit.

"Alan and I will see to Kyrano, Virgil. Do what the doctor says before you end up like Scott." That last was firm, but worried younger brother, and he was right.

He let himself sink into the mattress. "Aunt Val?"

"You have my word."

Doctor Harris moved closer, scanner in hand. Virgil caught his Aunt's eyes, desperate to drive his urgency home. "Make it a good one."

-o-o-o-

End Part Six


	7. Chapter 7

Title: The Hero

Sequel/companion piece to The Joker

Author: Gumnut

24 Nov - 3 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his 'bird. Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'. Gordon is far more than he seems.

Word count: 2376

Spoilers & warnings: Violence, WASP!Gordon, Military!Scott, whump, language.

Timeline: Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'.

Author's note: For corbyinoz because she has written some magnificent Virgil and Gordon fics and is a great inspiration. Thank you for all your wonderful words.

This fic continues to do as it likes, but I'm getting used to it. ::hugs you all:: You are so kind to me and give me such support :D I hope you enjoy it :D

It started with 'The Joker'. I got interested in WASP!Gordon and decided to explore his side of the story. Then PLOT happened. Now I have no idea what is going on.

Many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for putting up with my crazy.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Gordon knew Tin was up and about within twenty-four hours of the attack, but a groggy Scott had reined her in for another day to give himself and his brothers time to regroup to at least be functional for the necessary interrogation. All of them wanted to be there and Gordon was ever so grateful his brother had the foresight to do so.

They needed Kyrano alive after all.

Tin was beyond angry. The woman was hurting so bad it was a physical thing.

He woke up at one point to find her sitting beside his bed like a statue, just watching him. It could have been creepy, but for the pain on her face. She sought out each of her brothers for different things. Scott for guidance, Virgil for reassurance, John for knowledge, Alan for companionship, but when she came looking for Gordon it was for resilience.

"Hey, Tin." His voice wasn't its strongest.

Her eyes darted to him, but she didn't say anything.

Worried, he reached out and gently took her arm. She didn't resist, but she still didn't acknowledge him.

"We will find out why. He wouldn't do this willingly."

That snapped her out of it. Her head spun around and those familiar green eyes so like her father's grabbed his. "Willingly? How could anyone coerce him into trying to kill his family? He loved this family more than his life, Gordon. Your father meant more to him than you will ever understand. Losing him..." Her lips thinned and she looked away. "I lost them both."

His hand tightened on her arm, refusing to let go.

"We'll get him back."

"How?" It was a challenge.

And he didn't have an answer.

"Empty promises are just that...empty." She shook off his hand and with a single glance of hurt, strode from his room.

Gordon sighed and closed his eyes a moment.

A thumb on his collar. "John, you're going to have to set up that meeting sooner rather than later. We need answers and we need them now."

-o-o-o-

It was like a scene from that old Hannibal Lecter movie. The one where the female agent stood in front of the glass enclosure and was terrified by the man eating criminal.

Aunt Val had moved Kyrano to a cell on the military base. She had been true to her word and security was so tight even the Tracys were glared at and inspected within an inch of their lives before being allowed to enter the viewing room.

The sight of Kyrano strapped to a chair beyond the plexiglass wall was chilling.

The confident and calm expression on his face, even more so.

They managed to fit three hoverchairs in that small room along with Alan, John and Kayo standing beside them, Aunt Val and the two guards.

It was a tight fit.

Virgil stared at the man who had loved them, yet hurt them so much.

"Hey, K." Gordon's voice was quiet.

Green eyes snapped to his brother. "You disappointed me, Mister Gordon. I thought you, of all of them, could follow through and put an end to this."

"An end to what?"

Kyrano opened his mouth to answer, but something flickered in his eyes and he shut it again. A breath. "Have you learned nothing?"

"We have learnt plenty, Kyrano." Scott straightened in his chair with a wince. "What we want to know is why you have turned on your family."

The Malay aimed his gaze at Scott. It was as calm and as level as always. "Commander, I can not give you all your answers. You will need to do the work yourself."

Kayo stepped forward. "Father, tell me why." Her tone was cold.

"I can not tell you anything, daughter. You will need to discover it for yourself."

And there sat a stalemate.

The brothers stared at Kyrano and the tension tightened its stranglehold on the room.

John whispered something into his comm and Virgil heard his niece answer. He turned to look at his space brother. John was tired. His face gaunt with tension. He still wore his uniform in a way that made it appear that the blue fabric was all that was keeping him together.

Considering his abrupt descent from orbit, it probably was. Virgil sighed. He and his brothers were a mess. International Rescue was down and writhing on the floor. If that was what their opponent wanted, then they had succeeded.

His eyes crept up to Kyrano's and he found the man staring into his soul.

"Have they told you?" The man's voice was smug yet held an edge of desperation.

"What?"

"How I tried to kill you."

"What?"

"Hmm, apparently not. All that effort, all that _technology_ and they didn't even tell you."

Virgil frowned and turned to his brothers. "What is he talking about?"

"Don't let him play you, Virgil." Gordon's voice was cold and he glared death at his former mentor.

Kyrano turned to that voice. "You could not disappoint me more. I have made it plain and clear, yet you do not see. My faith in you was so misplaced and now-"

"Leave him alone!" Virgil's words whipped across the room and snapped against the plexiglass. "You've done enough!"

"Obviously, I haven't because you are all clueless!" There was the first hint of anger in the man, his calm cracking, that edge of desperation clearer than ever before. "Mister Virgil, the weak link. Attack the sensitive one, the honest one, the vulnerable one. Use him. Gain the attention of the military ones, the eye in the sky." His tone was all scoff. "You are my family. Of anyone on this planet, you should understand." His shoulders dipped just a little. "I have failed and this will continue because it can't anything but."

"Talk to me, Kyrano." Scott's voice was parched, but determined.

"I can not." Green eyes met blue with an intensity of fire. "You are all going to die."

It was cold and with a finality that sunk into his bones.

The room was silent for a moment until John's hand landed on Scott's shoulder and his brother whispered in his ear. Virgil couldn't hear what he said, but the response was immediate, Scott turning his hoverchair around and summoning Kayo and Aunt Val with a hand signal. He also gestured for Virgil to follow, but Virgil gestured with his head towards Gordon, the aquanaut still glaring at his former mentor.

Blue eyes flickered, message understood.

Gordon wasn't to be left alone with Kyrano.

A glance in the prisoner's direction and Virgil was chilled by the small smile on the man's face.

He saw everything.

Kyrano always did.

John led his brothers, sister and aunt our of the room, leaving Gordon and Virgil alone with the two guards...and Kyrano.

Virgil lined himself up with Gordon and echoed his expression.

"How's your oesophagus?"

Gordon's voice was sharp. "K!"

"Why hide it, Mister Gordon?" Kyrano shifted where he sat, his bonds tight and obviously uncomfortable. "Anyone would think you had an enemy in the room."

"Fuck you."

"Mister Virgil remembers the pill, don't you, Mister Virgil."

He did. Gordon's expression could have melted the glass between the two men.

Those eyes slid back to the aquanaut. "You should be proud of him, Mister Gordon. No matter what we did, his thoughts were only of you. 'Must protect Gordon'. He also had this faith in you that was quite indefatigable. He was determined you were going to enter the room like some superhero and save him."

Neither Tracy answered him. Virgil's hands formed into fists nonetheless.

The tableau was interrupted by Alan darting his head in the door. "Hey, Virg. Scott wants you."

Virgil's eyes darted to the cameras above and his lips thinned.

Kyrano actually laughed.

"Gordon, you're coming with me." Virgil found his voice ever so dry.

"Forget it."

"Gordon-"

His brother's eyes caught him and the determination in them burnt a streak across his heart. "I will be fine."

He held that gaze for a long moment. "Right outside the door."

Gordon didn't answer. He turned back to glaring at Kyrano.

Scott better have a damned good excuse. This was against Virgil's better judgment. Something in Gordon was scaring him.

Shoulders tight with strain, he followed Alan from the room, the sight of his aquanaut brother glaring at his mentor, burnt into his brain.

-o-o-o-

The moment Virgil left the room, the atmosphere changed.

Gordon's hackles rose even higher.

"Now isn't that much better? All the arty civilians have left the room. It is just you and me now." Kyrano's smile was sickly.

"What are you trying to do, K?"

"What needs to be done. Unfortunately, you have failed to connect the extremely obvious dots, Mister Gordon."

"You can drop the 'mister'. Your lack of respect is obvious."

"I will always respect you, Mister Gordon. I thought I made that clear."

"Yet you will attempt to murder us in the same breath."

"I only do what I have to. I had hoped you would be smarter. Apparently, I failed."

"No, you don't get to do that. This is on you!" He stabbed his finger at the man behind the glass.

"Nothing is on me! I wanted none of this!" And there, just for a moment, there was a crack in that calm. There was grief and pain, for a just a split second.

And it was gone.

Gordon jumped on it, desperate to grab some sanity in all this. "K, please! Why?!"

The guard to Gordon's right shifted where he stood, turning from his attentive stance to look at Gordon. "Because he is fighting me. Obviously he in need of another treatment."

Kyrano froze and stared at the man. "No!"

A flicker of holographic display and the 'guard' turned back to the prisoner. "Tell me, brother, why not?"

-o-o-o-

The room Virgil coasted into was almost as tense as the one he left. Scott's frown was about to eat his face. "Virgil, there is something we haven't told you."

"What, really?" His patience was about gone. Kyrano had spoken so many hurtful truths. The man obviously knew things he did not. "I would never have guessed."

Scott's eyes dropped to the floor for a moment before shooting him a non-verbal apology.

Virgil's lips thinned. "Tell me."

And that was how he found out he had been the one to nearly kill his entire family.

He didn't let it digest, refusing to react. He could be the strong one if necessary. Screw all this stereotypical soldier crap. "Kyrano tried to give me another pill."

Scott blinked. "When?"

"On the Island. That was what he was trying to do when Kayo interrupted him." C'mon, face it, she had saved his ass and not for the first time.

"Well, where is it now?" Scott's question was sharp.

"I don't know! How could I know it was anything other than a pill. I thought he was trying to drug me again, this time to kill me. He said it all had to end. He didn't want to do it, but he had to."

Scott turned to his sister. "Do you know?"

She shook her head, no words passed her lips. Her body held so much tension he feared she might combust on the spot. This just got worse and worse.

"So he has tried to kill us twice. Claims he doesn't want to, yet keeps doing exactly that." Virgil glared at his brothers. "What the hell is going on? This isn't Kyrano..." He paused. "That is Kyrano, isn't it?" He looked up at the tallest brother in the room. "John?"

"We can't scan him-"

"You couldn't locate that Null base either."

"No, but-"

"Then they have to be related. Our detection systems are the best on the planet, the only reason Kyrano can't be located is because he knows-"

"Virgil." Scott's voice was firm. "He doesn't know everything."

"What?"

John straightened where he stood. "He doesn't know about Eos." Virgil stiffened, ever aware of his aunt standing not half a dozen feet away. His eyes were caught by twin turquoise and a copper frown. "The program found a way."

"It...did?" Referring to his niece as an 'it' felt ever so wrong.

"The device implanted in you had a very specific signature. It was cloaked to all but IR technology. Further to that, we suspect that it was lodged in your oesophagus on purpose. It was designed to lodge in your stomach, bide its time and then explode as the casing eroded, like a time bomb." Virgil swallowed and John's eyes darted to one side for just a moment before he obviously steeled himself and caught Virgil's eyes again. "We all know that Kyrano is good at what he does. He isn't seen unless he wants to be seen. That device has to have been sabotaged to do what it did. It gave us enough time to find it and defuse it. When has anything Kyrano done, ever failed at that level?"

Virgil stared at John before flicking his eyes to Scott. "You think he was trying to save us? From himself?"

Soldier blue stared back at him, so cold they chilled his bones. "I think it is a possibility."

"It has given us the signature to search for." John caught his attention again. "The...program can not locate Kyrano in that room, but that signature, on the faintest of wavelengths, is there." He gestured to the sensor readouts on the security cams. Gordon was glaring at an empty chair in the middle of the room, the two guards equally staring at nothing. But they knew Kyrano was there.

John touched his interface with Five and a red dot appeared on the readout, about a metre above the seat of the chair.

"There is something in his head?" The words fell from Virgil's mouth. His eyes widened. "Like the Mechanic."

"We can only guess at this point." John was falling back on science, shunting his reactions aside to focus on the problem.

But it explained so much. "He said we could end it." The red dot blinked at Virgil.

"Oh my god."

-o-o-o-

End Part Seven.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: The Hero

Part Eight

Sequel/companion piece to The Joker

Author: Gumnut

3 - 6 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his 'bird. Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'. Gordon is far more than he seems.

Word count: 3298

Spoilers & warnings: Violence, WASP!Gordon, Military!Scott, whump, language.

Timeline: Sequel/companion piece to 'The Joker'.

Author's note: For corbyinoz because she has written some magnificent Virgil and Gordon fics and is a great inspiration. Thank you for all your wonderful words.

It started with 'The Joker'. I got interested in WASP!Gordon and decided to explore his side of the story. Then PLOT happened. Now I have no idea what is going on.

This one is full of plot necessities and was a pain to write. I hope to get back to the emotion and action in the next part. There may be one or two more chapters, depends on how it writes and as we have proven repeatedly that I have no control over anything. This is officially my second longest TAG fic so far :D

Unfortunately there will likely be a little delay before Chapter Nine as I have to write my TAG Secret Santa fic (which I finally have a plot for) as it has a deadline and I'm back at work in a couple of days. Thank you all so much for your patience and your wonderful support. You guys are just awesome ::hugs you all::

Many, many thanks to vegetacide and scribbles97 for putting up with my crazy.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

"Think with your head, not your heart."

Virgil spun where he stood, narrowly avoiding the punch Kyrano launched at him. "I'm not having any trouble with my heart right now, Kyrano. More avoiding having my head handed to me." Another spin and the world suddenly tipped sideways as the older man caught him and threw him to the ground. All the air in his body was expelled in a giant rush.

Kyrano stood over him as he gasped at the ceiling. "You have far too much heart."

"I am what I am and I'm not ashamed of it."

"What if you are the weakness?"

"I don't see it as weakness." He was finally able to draw breath again, his lungs fighting for it. "Everyone has their place in this world." He threw himself to his feet, rolled his shoulders and set in form best he could.

Kyrano eyed him across the practise mat. "They do. Yet you have chosen to place yourself on the front line. You do not belong there."

"This is not a war. We save people."

"It is a war nonetheless and you are vulnerable."

"Then teach me to defend myself."

The Malay was quiet a moment, his eyes assessing. He moved into form.

"Then shield your heart."

-o-o-o-

Gordon stared at the man who had hurt his family so much over so many years. A flick of his hand and he immobilised the hoverchair and stood up. "Bela Gaat."

The Hood smiled at him. "Gordon Tracy, my little brother's protege." A snort. "Aren't you supposed to avenge him and take me down?"

Calm. He could not afford anger here.

"Aww, I don't know, boss. He is kinda cute."

Gordon spun to find the second guard morphing into Havoc. Her smile was just as charming as every other smile in the room.

"He isn't worth your time, m'dear. More guppy than shark apparently." He turned to the prisoner. "Isn't that right, Kyrano."

His mentor had gone completely silent, his eyes lasering holes in the bald man from the other side of the glass.

"Time to go, dear brother."

"No!" It was like the syllable had been dragged across knives.

"Excuse me?" Something flickered in the bastard's eyes and Kyrano visibly flinched, his expression turning to steel. "You are my greatest weapon, dear brother. I am never, ever letting you go.

Gordon connected the dots in his head, a realisation that was both a relief and a terror. Decisions cascaded and within a split second he was in form and his fist was in the Hood's face.

Perfect teeth disintegrated and scattered across the room. A knee came up and jammed the man's intestines into his spine. A flip of a wrist, and despite his body screaming in protest, Gordon took the curse of a man down in one fell swoop.

Knee in the man's back, he pulled his fist back for the killing blow.

"Kill me and he dies." It was spat out with blood and another tooth.

It caused him to hesitate just that split second.

A grapple wrapped around his waist and yanked, digging a spike into his side. He yelled as Havoc wrestled him off the prone man, flinging him across the room to collide with the wall and crumple in a heap beneath it.

The world blurred a moment.

Kyrano was standing in his cell staring at him, green eyes completely lost.

There was an explosion and the ceiling fell in.

"Your duty as his daughter was to protect him."

"Shut it, Kyrano, I don't need your lame ass philosophy. Give me a hand and make yourself useful."

"Some daughters are better than others, I guess."

"I told you to shut it."

"Fortunately, I do not take my orders from you."

Gordon attempted to push himself up from the floor and almost whited out from the pain. A crash of something against the door shook the wall.

Kyrano stepped out of the haze of floating concrete dust, his eyes fogged by more than grief. "I'm sorry, Mister Gordon." Agony flickered across his expression. "So sorry." He drew back his arm as Gordon struggled to get out of reach.

The door burst open, Tracys and GDF piling through.

Relief flickered across that fatherly face before it was stolen by something else.

A grapple whipped out of the haze and caught the man, yanking him up through the ceiling to the hovering craft above.

Gordon stared as the ship spun and shot away.

It wasn't until John reached him, yelling for medical assistance, that he realised he had forgotten to breathe.

-o-o-o-

Shock set in.

Virgil floundered with the rest of his family as the realisation of what Kyrano was suffering sunk in and, amongst injury and hurt, they struggled to get back on their feet.

They were able to track him.

Intermittently.

Eos followed that signature as it darted across the globe, the information sent to John until it disappeared somewhere in Malaysia, interference stealing it away.

That didn't stop the argument from starting in Gordon's hospital room.

"I'm going home." His brother's words were final.

"You are injured."

"State the obvious, Virgil. I don't see you volunteering to stay at the hospital."

"My injuries are older."

"By a matter of days and you've had surgery."

"You have a busted cheekbone, broken ribs and a hole in your side. How the hell do you expect to take on Kyrano in that state?"

"I have to speak to him."

"He is going to kill you. The Hood said something about a treatment. If he is controlling Kyrano with this thing in his head, the loopholes keeping us alive are likely going to be fixed. You are no match for him Gordon."

"Speak for yourself."

"Gordon, please." Virgil was their last ditch effort. Scott had been dragged yelling from his brother's hospital room. Expelled for both his own health and that of the entire floor. Doctor Harris had been spitting chips. Virgil was pretty sure she was still ranting at him for endangering himself and his brothers.

Next stop was to save the eldest.

But first Gordon. He placed his hand on his brother's arm. "We don't even know if that is what he will do."

"He'll return as soon as possible. I can guarantee it. It is what I would do. Strike while we are down and the Island is vulnerable."

"But Scott has contacted Brains and security is being upgraded. Kayo is already there."

That had been rather spectacular in itself. Scott hadn't even had a chance to yell at her, she had just disappeared. John traced her to a plane hire business and then to the Island.

Virgil had had to field Scott's rant.

His eldest brother was beside himself. There was worry on all fronts, rogue operatives only one of them. He was on comms to Brains almost every five minutes, concerned about Brains himself and Grandma who was still on the Island. Scott agreed that it was likely there would be another strike. Evacuation was not an option any brother was willing to consider, so security and defence were the only remaining strategy.

Security against one of their own security officers who could literally waltz in at any time, undetected.

Aunt Val was another worry. Her concern involved troops and gunships, but none of the brothers had any faith left and certainly did not want unknowns on their island.

Hell, the GDF had a suspect in their care and yet again, he had escaped.

Scott pleaded no confidence and to her chagrin, Aunt Val had to bow to the accusation.

Virgil had no doubt that some heads were going to roll over this. Colonel Casey had given her word and her team had been unable to deliver...again. It was not a viable recipe for a successful command. Their aunt had her own fires to put out.

Of course, with Gordon demanding to go, there was no way Alan was leaving him to face this alone. Hell, Virgil wanted to go himself, not because he felt he would be much help in any actual fight, just that Kayo should not have to face this alone either.

She needed her family with her.

Kyrano was her father and the possibility existed that this may end badly for either side.

She needed their support.

John was still Earthside and the number of profane words in other languages he had muttered in the last day made his position clear. The communications specialist was already beefing up security via Eos. The AI was a random element they had up their sleeve and could be a game changer.

So there was no way John was hiding on the mainland.

And that was what it became, a cry that they shouldn't hide. That Tracy Island was their home and regardless of their state of health, they needed to be there.

How could Virgil deny Gordon what felt so right?

"It will be okay." Gordon's voice was parched.

Even now, injured and facing the unknown, his brother was still attempting to protect him.

Virgil sighed. "I want you to be okay."

"I'll be okay once we have him home and safe."

Virgil's fingers spasmed around his brother's arm. They didn't know if that was even possible.

Gordon must have picked up on the thought because Virgil found himself pinned by those eyes so much like his own.

"We have to try."

He held that gaze a moment before looking away. Quiet. "I know."

So Alan took Two in hand and they went home.

Not knowing who might already be on that Island waiting for them.

Regardless, it felt good to see the familiar peaks and the caldera as Two banked to land on her runway.

Grandma greeted them, her hug clinging to him.

And he faced another futile argument. "Please, Grandma."

As predicted, she shook her head. "I'm not leaving the Island, Virgil, so save your breath. This is a fight for our family."

If he hugged her harder than usual, it was for his own reassurance.

"You be careful of those ribs, young man."

A sigh. "Not my first set of broken ribs, Grandma. I know what I'm doing."

She caught his eyes. "Not my first fight either, Virgil."

She wasn't wrong.

He kissed her hair.

And clung a moment longer.

-o-o-o-

Gordon followed Virgil up to his room. Both men were holding their sides, as if in parody of each other.

The aquanaut did not feel like laughing.

Kyrano had played them and taken them all down.

He grit his teeth.

So much anger. It roiled inside him. Anger at the Hood, at Havoc, but mostly at himself.

Why hadn't he seen it? Kyrano was right. Of all the people on this planet, they were the ones he trusted, the people who knew him the most and Gordon, despite the Hood's sneer, was his protege, his frickin' padawan. He knew the philosophy Kyrano held dear, he knew how the man worked.

Kyrano had trusted him with his everything.

And he had failed to see. Failed to hear his cry for help.

He sighed and Virgil turned to look at him, worry in his gaze.

"I'm fine. Do you remember where you saw it last?"

Virgil didn't answer. Instead he opened the door to his bedroom.

It all hit them in the face.

Books lay scattered all over the floor. The desk chair on its side.

A smear of blood on the window sill.

Gordon swallowed and straightened. Virgil's eyes tracked across the room before he shuffled over to the bed and sat down. He closed his eyes and Gordon frowned.

"Virg?"

His brother raised a hand. "Give me a minute."

The silence was deafening.

Virgil groaned as he levered himself off the bed and staggered around the foot, lowering himself to his knees. "Ow." But he came up a moment later a tiny object between his fingers.

"Got it."

-o-o-o-

The Thunderduck was still in the pool restricting One from being launched.

Alan used Two's grabs to drag it out and secure it in the hangars.

Brains crawled all over it.

Virgil tried to do the same, but Grandma hauled him off it with a glare and Scott reinforced it with an order.

That order became an argument involving abdominal surgery, stitches and who the hell had medical command.

John slammed them both down and sent them to their rooms. Literally.

Grandma backed that one up wielding a wooden spoon.

It wasn't International Rescue's command team's greatest moment.

But then nothing was going particularly well, in any case.

They beefed up security. They launched drones to patrol the Island. They even deployed the storm shutters, closing the massive metal shields designed to protect the villa from the force of a category five cyclone.

They were prepared.

But nothing happened.

The signature did not reappear on any scanner, no matter the sensitivity. It was just gone.

Had they lost the one advantage they had? Was Kyrano already here? His ability to foil their sensors had long bothered Brains. The engineer had spoken to Kyrano about it, but the security specialist had never been forthcoming. Even Scott had never received an answer, but it hadn't been a worry, it had been to their advantage because Kyrano was on their side.

Or so they thought.

Now he was a massive hole in their security and a possible death threat.

Brains was not happy.

Kayo was livid.

Their sister was a silently screaming presence on the Island. She moved like she always did, a cat slinking from room to room, but she trailed pain.

Virgil attempted to corner her, but she shook him off.

He worried.

So he hounded her.

It wasn't a technique he would usually employ, but she wouldn't speak to him and he knew her too well.

She was hurting so much.

It came to a head three metres from the northwest sensor array on the other side of the island.

He had followed her. He wasn't up to a great hike, but it was her fifth lap. She hadn't eaten all day. She was pale and far too focussed.

And he was worried.

"What the hell do you want from me, Virgil?"

He didn't answer immediately, just stood there, arm wrapped around his side, no doubt looking pathetic.

He straightened his shoulders anyway. "I want you to give yourself a break."

Her lips thinned to invisibility and she spun, returning to her march to the array.

He followed, if a little slower.

She was running a diagnostic of the system when he caught up. She did not acknowledge him.

"It is not your fault."

She ignored him, but the anger flickered across her expression anyway.

He ran through a list of platitudes and reassurance, but came up empty on what else to say. He couldn't guarantee anything, he couldn't say everything would be all right. He had nothing.

He could only be there.

Even if it required him to follow her around the entire Island. He shifted where he stood and flinched as his ribs reminded him exactly why that was such a stupid idea.

Her motions were efficient and sharp as usual. If he hadn't been watching her so closely, he wouldn't have seen it.

As it was, part of him hardly believed it.

The rest of him just broke into little pieces.

A single tear leaked out of her determined eyes and he was beside her before she could wipe it away, his arms wrapping around her before he could think.

She tensed a moment, and he thought she was going to push him off, but a small sound and she fell into his embrace, her head dropping to his chest.

She didn't shake, didn't hug him back, her fingers lying softly on his shirt, nails fine points pressing through his clothes into his skin.

He stroked her hair.

Little more than breath. "I'm sorry, Kay."

She mumbled something he didn't hear properly and her arms slid around him, her grip desperate and a little painful.

He didn't flinch.

He just held her.

-o-o-o-

The days wore on and still nothing happened.

The tension on the Island increased, tempers frayed and the underlying anxiety eroded everyone. Sure the time gave them the space to heal and regroup, but the threat hung over them like a hammer about to pound them into the ground.

And International Rescue could not stay frozen forever.

Brains examined the 'pill' and, to their horror, discovered it to be almost exactly the same as the one removed from Virgil's oesophagus. Gordon watched his brother as Brains ran through the details and saw him pale.

Gordon's simmering anger burned hotter.

Because the pill bomb had yet to encounter the stomach acid that would erode it, Brains was able to use microtools to drain it of its fuel and examine the detail of its design.

Brains worked out how it was being cloaked.

The engineer gasped out loud. The science that followed bewildered Gordon, but Virgil's eyes widened and there was a shared moment of admiration between the two engineers.

There was something about parrying signals rather than reflecting and a metaphor involving swords. Gordon just stared at the both of them. "Yes, but where does that get us?"

Scott, standing beside him, echoed the question.

"If we know how it works, we can work out a way defeat it." Virgil's voice held hope. "We could find Kyrano. This has to be why he left it here."

For a moment, Gordon's spirits lifted just a little. It was a step in the right direction.

But then Brains' expression fell. "Oh no."

"What?" The word fell from Gordon's lips unconsidered.

"The c-cloak has the s-same signature that Kyrano was carrying ar-round in his h-head."

Gordon stared at the engineer. A blink. "You think he has one of these in his skull?" Despite himself, Gordon's voice rose at the end of the question. Virgil's hand landed on his arm.

This time he shook it off.

Brains straightened and turned to face Gordon head on. "I-I c-can only say that the s-signature is the s-same. A-anything else is p-pure sp-peculation."

Gordon straightened his spine. "But it is a possibility."

The brown eyes of their resident genius were apologetic. "A-anything is p-possible."

_Kill me and he dies._

Gordon looked away a moment. Scott shifted where he stood.

"He wanted to end this." Virgil's parched voice broke the sudden silence. "He tried to shove that down my throat so he could end it. He wanted to blow himself up as much as he was being driven to do the same to us. If he had a bomb in his head, don't you think he would have found a way to set that off rather than kill all of us?"

Silence ate the question.

"The Hood said 'Kill me and he dies'. What if it requires a trigger?"

The silence crept in again.

"This is all speculation." Scott's voice cut in and ended the discussion. "Brains, I want John and Eos in on this. We need to find a way to locate that signature again. We can't sit here waiting for an attack forever. We need to find him." A pause as his brother swallowed. "We need to save him."

Save him.

Brains nodded and went back to his equipment.

Scott rounded on his two brothers. "We _will_ save him."

Virgil looked up, but his expression was neutral.

Gordon straightened. "Yes, we will."

How was the only remaining question.

Until two days later when that signature reappeared on their sensors.

-o-o-o-

End Part Eight.


End file.
